Itilli 


llli'lmm 


I 

1:11 


ttiliii III! 
jn jjjiii 

Hi  HI 


lllf I1II13I 


lltll 


ntilli 

inlliii 


r~ 


THE    COLLEGE    STUDENT 
AND   HIS   PROBLEMS 


The  Personal  Problem  Series 


The  College  Student  and  his  Problems. 
By  James  H.  Canfield,  LL.D. 

Mental  Growth  and  Control. 

Br  Nathan  Oppenheim,  M.D. 


In  Press. 


Other  volumes  in  preparation. 


THE   COLLEGE  STUDENT 


>  >  i 


AND 


HIS  PROBLEMS 


BY 


JAMES   HULME   CANFIELD 

Librarian  of  Columbia  University 

Formerly  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Nebraska 

and  President  of  Ohio  State  University 


Ncto  Borfc 
THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

1922 

All  riyhtH  reserved 


&& 


u 


c^ 


I  i     r      I         r      ,  t 

I       r       •       '    ,    ,      ,  ' 

C        .  .  ,    r 

t 
t        l 
•         '<','  '  t 

,    ,  .    x 

■        I      .  t      *  ,  *     t         ' 

ftf'tf  '        « 


COPYRIGHT,   1902, 

Bt  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


^et  up  and  electrotyped  January,  1902. 


Nortonat  $resa 

J.  8.  Cushing  &  Co.  -  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


For  the  Children 

Of  My  Educational  Sons  and  Daughters 

Whose  Unfailing  Confidence  and  Affectionate  Regard 

Have  been  and  still  are 

The  Inspiration  and  the  Reward  of  Life 

These  Pages  have  been  Written 


596052 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

Certain  books  of  counsel,  teaching  young  men 
and  women  how  best  to  shape  their  ideals  and 
their  lives,  played  an  honorable  part  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  nineteenth  century,  particularly  in 
America,  where  aspiring  youth  is  eager  to  learn 
the  secret  of  noble  success.  These  books,  so 
gratefully  remembered  by  older  men,  have  long 
since  become  powerless  to  aid  a  younger  genera- 
tion, and  their  place  has  not  yet  been  worthily 
filled.  It  is  our  intention  to  issue  a  short  series 
of  small  volumes  that  shall  fulfil  the  mission  of 
the  best  of  these  obsolescent  manuals.  No  one 
mind,  no  single  experience,  would  suffice  for  such 
a  task.  Each  special  field,  each  special  group  of 
personal  problems,  must  be  treated  separately. 
There  is  the  problem  of  the  body  —  how  shall  its 
mechanism  be  perfected  and  kept  in  repair;  the 
problem  of  the  mind — how  shall  its  latent  powers 
be  wisely  developed ;  the  problem  of  the  spiritual 

nature  —  how  shall  it  be  best  nurtured.     Each  is 

vii 


viii  Prefatory  Note 

to  be  treated  by  one  who  has  given  long-continued 
thought  and  effort  to  that  particular  subject. 
These  are  fundamental  problems,  which  all  young 
men  and  young  women  must  consider.  There 
are  others  that  appeal  to  great  classes  of  the 
community :  the  securing  of  an  education  when 
college  is  out  of  the  question,  the  management 
of  life  at  college,  the  choice  of  a  profession  —  to 
mention  no  more  —  and  each  of  these  is  also  to 
be  treated  by  men  of  special  knowledge  and 
experience. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 

December  1, 1901. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  Why  Go  to  College  ?    . 

II.  The  Choice  of  a  College 

III.  The  Selection  of  a  Course 

IV.  The  Fateful  First  Year 
V.  Fraternities    . 

VI.  Athletics 

VTL  Other  College  Enterprises 

VIII.  Electives 

IX.  The  Choice  of  Life-Work 

X.  A  Few  Last  Words 

APPENDIX:  Expenses      . 


PAGB 

1 

22 

42 

61 

83 

96 

118 

134 

147 

176 

191 


',■>    > 


> 


THE   COLLEGE    STUDENT 


Why  Go  to  College? 

Between  the  covers  of  this  book,  my  dear 
young  fellow,  you  and  I  are  to  talk  together 
about  your  college  life  and  work,  possibly  much 
as  your  father  and  I  talked  together  not  so  very 
many  years  ago.  I  am  not  at  all  unmindful  of 
the  fact  that  talk  is  cheap  and  that  advice  is 
often  worth  but  little  more  than  it  costs  —  noth- 
ing. Somewhere  jThoreau  says  that  all  advice  is 
of  little  value  because  it  is  generally  offered  by 
men  who  are  not  in  touch  with  their  times, 
whose  future  is  already  quite  behind  them,  who 
are  out  of  sympathy  with  those  seeking  advice. 
It  is  entirely  well  known,  also,  that  most  people 
really  desire  approbation,  though  they  may  say 
that  they  are  seeking  advice.  Between  the  pos- 
sibly slight  practical  value  oi>  advice,  therefore, 
and  the  general  unwillingness  to  accept  it,  the 


The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 


• . 


task  of  one  offering  the  results  of  his  experi- 
ence and  observation  is  not  an  enviable  one ; 
and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  he  generally  has 
his  labors  for  his  pains. 

Moreover,  the  problems  of  life  are  to  be  solved 
by  each  person  for  himself;  and  each  solution, 
if  at  all  correct  and  satisfactory,  will  bear  the 
distinct  stamp  of  individuality.  I  may  say  what 
I  would  do  "if  I  were  in  your  place,"  but  the 
fact  remains  that  if  I  were  in  your  place  I  would 
surely  do  exactly  what  you  are  doing  and  what 
you  will  do.  N  While  there  is  much  which  may 
be  gained  by  inquiry,  while  it  pays  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  to  keep  your  eyes  and  ears 
open,  after  all  you  must  determine  your  own 
scheme  of  life.  The  experience  of  others  is 
worth  something :  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  de- 
sirable that  you  perpetually  burn  your  fingers 
in  the  same  fire  that  scorched  the  digits  of  your 
ancestors ;  yet  your  most  helpful  lessons  will 
come  from  your  own  experience  —  even  from 
your  own  mistakes.  You  must  work  out  your 
own  salvation,  even  with  fear  and  trembling. 

You  have  finished  your  work  at  the  public 
high  school  or  the  private  academy;  and  you  are 


Why   Go  to   College?  3 

ready  to  enter  upon  some  of  the  liberal  courses 
in  college,  to  take  up  technical  training,  or  to 
begin  work  in  the  business  world.  The  pre- 
sumption of  this  volume  is  that  you  will  con- 
tinue your  studies. Xj  But  it  is  entirely  proper 
to  ask  why  you  mike  this  choice.  You  ought 
to  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for  your  action,  to 
explain  your  selection.  Not  every  boy  needs  a 
college  course,  not  every  boy  can  master  it,  not 
every  boy  will  be  benefited  by  it.  Not  every 
boy  has  the  definite  purpose,  the  firm  determina- 
tion, the  intellectual  grip  and  grit,  the  will-power, 
the  self-mastery  —  such  a  constant  and  essential 
factor  in  all  other  mastery  —  necessary  to  secure 
advanced  education  and  sound  training,  or  to 
make  a  wise  and  efficient  use  of  these  after  they 
have  been  secured.  It  is  well  to  think  of  this, 
to  give  it  most  careful  consideration,  to  be  as 
sure  of  your  ground  as  possible.  But  remem- 
ber, always,  to  give  yourself  the  benefit  of  any 
doubt.  Unless  in  some  peculiar  and  unusual 
way  you  have  positive  and  definite  and  conclu- 
sive assurance  that  it  will  be  only  a  waste  of 
time  and  effort  to  undertake  a  college  course, 
enter  some  college  at  once. 


4        TKe   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

A  serious  question  sometimes  arises  here 
Shall  you  enter  college  if  you  are  obliged  to 
borrow  the  money  with  which  to  meet  your 
expenses?  I  have  a  horror  of  debt  of  every 
description  ;  and  I  do  not  at  all  accept  Mr. 
Greeley's  dictum  that  debt  is  a  good  thing  for 
a  young  man  because  it  gives  him  something 
very  definite  to  work  for.  But  if  you  are  even 
reasonably  sure  that  you  may  profitably  take  a 
college  course,  there  is  no  better  undertaking 
for  which  to  borrow  money,  nor  is  there  any 
better  investment  of  borrowed  money  —  nothing 
which  pays  a  larger  interest  or  makes  a  more 
sure  return.  Borrowing  should  be  most  em- 
phatically a  last  resort,  and  you  should  borrow 
the  least  amount  consistent  with  your  necessary 
expenses,  after  taking  careful  account  of  what 
you  can  possibly  earn  during  vacations  and  at 
other  leisure  hours.  But  if  the  choice  must  be 
made  between  entering  upon  life  in  the  bonds 
of  ignorance  or  of  limited  education,  or  in  the 
bonds  of  debt,  the  latter  is  to  be  chosen  —  every 
time.  Either  condition  is  deplorable  and  danger- 
ous ;  but  there  is  far  more  hope  of  escape  from 
the  latter  than  from  the  former. 


■J 


Why    Go  to   College?  5 

But  why  should  you  go  to  college  at  all  ? 
What  are  you  to  gain  by  this  ?  What  are  you 
to  lose  without  it?  How  is  it  to  be  helpful  to 
you  ?  Exactly  what  is  the  advantage  which  you 
will  have  over  the  man  who  chooses  to  enter  the 
business  world  at  once  and  without  further 
training  ? 

It  is  entirely  necessary  to  admit  at  the  out- 
set that  a  large  number  of  the  men  who  are 
successful  in  either  business  or  in  the  profes- 
sions or  in  public  life  —  some,  even  in  the  world 
of  letters  —  have  not  received  a  college  training. 
As  President  Barnard  once  said  :  "  A  mind  is 
"not  moulded  as  an  earthen  vessel  is  fashioned  by 
the  hand  of  a  potter.  It  moulds  itself,  by  virtue 
of  an  inherent  force  which  makes  for  symme- 
try or  deformity  according  to  the  direction  given 
it  by  consciousness  and  will.  No  lack  of  advan- 
tages will  prevent  a  man  from  securing  a  valua- 
ble education,  who  is  resolved  to  educate  himself. 
Witness,  for  instance,  a  Benjamin  Franklin,  a 
Hugh  Miller,  a  Michael  Faraday,  and  an  Abra- 
ham Lincoln."  All  these,  however,  are  easily 
recognized  as  exceptional  men.  Some  of  them 
are  successful  in  spite  of   a  deficient  education. 


6        The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

By  extraordinary  effort,  continued  through  a 
long  series  of  years,  they  have  overcome  all 
obstacles  and  have  mastered  all  difficulties. 
Through  much  tribulation  they  have  come  at 
last  into  their  kingdom,  — all  the  more  theirs, 
and  all  the  more  valuable  and  valued,  because 
of  the  struggle  it  has  cost.  They  are  entitled 
to  great  credit  for  the  courage  and  energy  and 
insistence  with  which  the  battle  has  been  fought. 
But  these  men  very  generally  bear  the  scars  of 
the  conflict  ;  rightly  or  wrongly,  regret  their 
earlier  limitations  ;  and  believe  that  they  could 
have  gone  farther  and  could  have  accomplished 
more  if  they  had  enjoyed  some  of  the  edu- 
cational opportunities  so  easily  within  the  reach 
of  the  average  boy  of  to-day.  Surely,  because 
some  of  the  hardy  pioneers  of  an  earlier  day 
tramped  into  the  West  beside  their  slow-moving 
oxen,  it  is  not  desirable  or  necessary  that  we 
of  to-day  avoid  the  Empire  Express.  These 
successful  non-collegians  are  always  anxious  that 
their  sons  shall  enjoy  all  the  advantages  which 
higher  education  affords.  Chauncey  Depew  has 
said  that  he  has  been  intimately  acquainted  with 
hundreds  of  men  who  though  wealthy  were  un- 


Why  Go  to  College?  7 

educated,  and  that  he  had  never  met  one  of 
them  who  did  not  feel  in  the  presence  of  cul- 
tured people  a  certain  sense  of  mortification  which 
no  money  could  pay  for  ;  nor  had  he  ever  met 
one  of  them  who  was  not  prepared  to  sacrifice 
his  entire  fortune,  if  necessary,  in  order  that  his 
son  should  never  feel  that  mortification. ) 

A  few  exceptional  men  are  undoubtedly  what 
they  are  because  they  were  not  trammelled  by 
the  work  of  a  college.  With  most  of  us  genius  is 
little  more  than  an  infinite  capacity  for  work; 
but  there  are  those  who  are  "not  as  other 
men."  To  these  the  college  course,  necessarily 
more  or  less  fixed  and  rigid  and  unbending,  and 
the  work  of  the  class  room  and  lecture  room, 
necessarily  adapted  to  the  average  mind,  are 
positive  hindrances.  They  are  not  born  to  work 
in  harness,  and  the  straps  and  buckles  which 
enable  the  rest  of  us  to  pull  a  load  are  simply 
and  unendurably  galling  to  them.  It  is  rare 
indeed,  however,  that  a  man  may  safely  count 
himself  in  this  class ;  these  exceptions  to  all 
general  rules  and  conditions  are  so  few  in  num- 
ber that  they  do  not  demand  serious  attention 
here. 


8        The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

There  is  another  thought,  in  this  connection. 
The  greater  number  of  these  men  of  limited 
education  are  now  at  middle  life,  even  if  they 
have  not  passed  this  limit.  This  means  that 
they  have  two  quite  definite  advantages.  In  the 
first  place,  they  came  up  in  an  age  when  college 
training  was  by  no  means  as  widespread,  as  well- 
nigh  universal,  as  now.  All  forms  of  life  were 
far  more  simple  than  now,  and  the  mastery  of 
the  conditions  of  success  was  far  less  difficult 
than  now.  In  the  business  world,  markets  were 
more  restricted,  competition  was  less  keen, 
organization  was  less  rigid,  and  the  entire  move- 
ment was  more  leisurely,  —  possibly  with  some- 
what more  dignity  and  with  somewhat  less 
"hustle."  In  the  professional  world  the  changes 
have  been  fewer,  as  to  the  old-time  callings  ;  but 
the  newer  professions  were  then  almost  unknown, 
and  even  the  "  big  four "  —  Law,  Medicine,  the 
Ministry,  Education  —  made  no  such  demands 
upon  their  followers  as  are  now  deemed  impera- 
tive. The  second  advantage  is  that  these  non- 
collegians  have  thus  far  been  competing  with 
their  own  kind,  with  men  of  similar  training  or 
lack  of  training.     But  the  young  men  of  to-day 


Why   Go  to   College?  9 

will  find  all  this  changed  when  they  reach 
middle  life,  —  the  most  trying  time  for  all  men. 
Twenty-five  years  from  now  they  must  compete 
largely  with  college-bred  men.  They  will  find 
themselves  trotting  in  quite  another  class,  and 
they  must  meet  the  pace  or  be  barred.  The 
learned  professions,  so  called,  the  technical  call- 
ings, the  world  of  literature,  the  avenues  of  pro- 
duction and  of  commerce,  public  life  and  service 
—  all  are  now  crowded  with  collegians,  give  pref- 
erence to  collegians,  offer  peculiar  opportunity 
and  incentive  to  collegians.  The  college  man 
is  everywhere  in  evidence.  The  day  of  Mr. 
Greeley's  contemptuous  notice,  "  No  college  grad- 
uates or  other  horned  cattle  need  apply,"  has 
passed.  Just  as  the  simpler  life,  easily  mastered 
by  the  graduate  of  the  people's  college,  the  dis- 
trict school,  developing  into  more  complex  con- 
ditions, demanded  the  training  offered  by  the 
academy  and  the  high  school ;  so  we  have  already 
passed  to  the  broader  life,  calling  for  higher  educa- 
tion, both  general  and  technical.  As  A.  E.  Win- 
ship  puts  it :  "  It  is  now  certain  that  in  every 
avenue  of  competition  one  must  face  elaborately 
trained  and  educated  men  and  women.      A  boy 


10       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

who  played  old-fashioned  baseball  would  stand  as 
good  a  chance  in  a  modern  football  game  under 
the  new  rules  of  the  game,  as  a  4  smart '  man 
untrained  will  stand  in  the  near  future,  in  any 
line  of  public  activity.') 

Every  young  man  of  normal  temperament 
and  natural  ambition  finds  his  thoughts  and 
desires  running  out  along  three  lines.  First, 
naturally,  he  desires  to  live.  By  this  is  meant 
something  more  than  mere  existence.  In  this 
country  almost  any  one  can  manage  to  exist. 
The  exceptions  are  so  rare  that  a  case  of  failure 
through  other  than  natural  causes  —  sickness  or 
accident  —  is  at  once  noted  in  the  daily  press  as 
so  exceptional  as  to  demand  attention.  A  death 
by  starvation  —  even  one,  in  a  population  of 
seventy-five  millions  —  calls  for  an  associated 
press  despatch  with  scare-heads.  So  easy  of 
solution  is  the  problem  of  mere  existence  that 
we  are  at  times  almost  tempted  to  think  that  it 
is  too  easy  ;  that  perhaps  it  would  be  better 
for  us  all  if  the  Wandering  Willies  and  the 
Counts  Canoftomatovitch  found  it  just  a  little 
more  difficult  to  keep  soul  and  body  together. 
No   normal   young   man,  therefore,  is  ever  very 


Why  Go  to   College?  11 

anxious  over  the  prospect  of  his  "  getting  a 
living." 
,/f{  But  you  are  demanding  more  than  this,  and 
rightly.  You  hope  to  have  reasonable  comfort 
of  body  :  a  body  well  fed,  well  clothed,  well 
housed.  )  Nothing  extravagant  may  be  in  your 
mind";  but  you  desire  food  that  will  be  whole- 
some and  palatable  and  sufficient,  clothing  that 
will  not  only  give  comfort  but  will  enable  you 
to  appear  among  your  fellows  without  hesitation 
and  without  fear  of  comment  of  any  sort,  and  a 
home  of  some  sort  which  shall  at  least  be  more 
and  better  than  the  four  walls  of  a  hall  bedroom 
in  some  semi-public  boarding  house.  You  wish 
to  have  your  share  of  the  pleasures  and  recreations 
of  life.  Books,  magazines,  the  daily  and  weekly 
press  :  these  must  minister  to  your  higher 
tastes.  Some  day  you  hope  and  expect  to  look 
across  the  table,  level  into  the  cool  gray  eyes  of 
one  who  has  gladly  cast  in  her  lot  with  you, 
who  is  to  be  a  help-meet  indeed.  (You  desire 
to  know  something  of  true  social  life,  of  the 
delights  of  friendship.  The  enjoyment  of  travel 
must  be  yours  ;  the  world  must  open  to  you  in 
many  ways!} 


12       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 


And,  second,  you  are  hoping  to  become  a  man 
among  men.  You  wish  to  size  yourself  up  with 
your  fellows,  with  no  sense  of  inferiority  of 
stature.  You  propose  to  touch  elbows  with 
others,  to  put  shoulder  to  shoulder,  to  carry  your 
share  of  the  public  burden,  to  prove  yourself  a 
worthy  citizen.  You  hope  that  the  time  will  come 
when  your  experience  and  your  observation  will 
count  for  something,  when  men  will  turn  to  you 
for  advice  and  counsel,  when  they  will  desire 
to  know  your  opinions  before  they  enter  upon 
some  given  undertaking,  when  your  going  and  com- 
ing will  be  of  some  moment  in  the  community, 
when  possibly  the  public  service  will  open  to  you, 
when  your  words  will  be  quoted  and  your  judg- 
ment will  receive  due  deference.  You  are  not 
at  all  willing  to  be  a  nonentity,  to  be  unknown, 
to  live  in  a  back  room  on  a  back  street,  to  have 
no  one  care  whether  you  are  at  home  or  abroad, 
to  have  the  community  entirely  indifferent  to 
your  existence,  to  be  a  cipher  among  the  figures 
which  go  to  make  up  the  sum  of  life,  an  integer 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  decimal  point,  or  a  minus 
quantity  ;  you  are  not  willing  to  remain  a  human 
flint  which  never  by  any  chance  strikes  fire. 


Why   Go  to   College?  13 

( Lastly,  you  wish  to  accomplish  something 
which  will  endure^  This  thought  may  not  come 
to  you  very  often  just  now,  and  may  be  rather 
vague  when  it  does  come  ;  but  it  will  grow  upon 
you  with  advancing  years.  Cjhe  saddest  thought 
imaginable  is  that  with  death  comes  oblivion ; 
that  all  in  which  you  have  been  interested,  for 
which  you  have  wrought,  to  which  you  have 
given  yourself  —  your  very  self,  that  all  this  may 
come  to  an  end  when  your  eyes  close  in  your 
last  sleep  j  that  it  has  all  been  so  very  finite  as 
to  deserve  no  place  whatever  in  the  great  infi- 
nite plan  which  is  being  worked  out  through  the 
ages  ;  that,  after  all,  you  have  built  with  hay  and 
and  straw  and  sticks  and  stubble  ;  that  when 
your  own  eyes  lose  their  lustre,  there  are  no  other 
eyes  that  are  shining  brighter  because  at  some 
time  you  have  looked  into  them  with  human 
sympathy  and  affectionate  interest ;  than  when 
your  hand  is  marble-cold,  there  is  no  hand  which 
still  feels  the  warmth  of  your  grasp  in  that  hour 
in  which  you  brought  new  hope  to  one  almost  in 
despair  ;  that  when  your  heart  has  ceased  to  beat, 
there  is  no  heart  throbbing  with  high  aspiration 
and  renewed  courage  because  once  you  put  your 


14      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

heart  against  it  as  friend  to  friend  and  brother 
to  brother  ;  that  not  a  single  human  being  has 
found  the  world  better,  and  the  skies  brighter, 
and  the  horizon  wider,  and  the  stars  of  God 
shining  with  clearer  light,  because  you  have 
lived  and  loved  and  served  in  your  day.  No 
one  willingly  chooses  such  a  fate  as  this.  The 
rather  does  every  man  desire  the  grateful  and 
loving  remembrance  of  his  fellows,  and  strive  to 
so  live  that  many  will  keep  his  memory  green.  / 

But  these  three  longings  of  the  human  soul  — 
for  life,  for  influence  and  power  and  mastery,  for 
ability  to  perpetuate  its  thoughts  and  purposes 
and  to  build  that  which  abideth  —  these  three 
cannot  find  satisfaction  in  a  small  and  unintelli- 
gent and  uncertain  life.  Only  the  mind  which 
becomes  public  and  large  can  ever  enter  into  the 
highest  joys  of  life.  And  only  the  mind  which 
is  early  and  thoroughly  and  wisely  disciplined 
can  possibly  and  surely  hope  to  become  public 
and  large.  As  I  have  already  admitted,  you  may 
secure  this  discipline  outside  the  walls  of  a  col- 
lege. I  Some  men  have  done  this,  but  the  surest 
road  is  that  trodden  by  hundreds  and  thousands 
during  all  the  past  —  the  college,  rich  in  oppor- 


Why   Go  to   College?  15 

tunity,  in  association,  in  fellowship,  in  tradition, 
in  all  that  is  stimulating  and  helpful.  Here  you 
will  find  clearer  judgment,  a  wider  horizon, 
higher  ideals  of  culture  and  of  manhood  than 
you  have  ever  known  before.  All  this  will  not 
come  to  you  suddenly;  it  will  grow  with  your 
growth.  It  will  not  come  without  effort ;  you 
will  get  nothing  at  all  if  you  simply  stand  at  the 
foot  of  the  ladder,  with  your  mouth  open,  long- 
ing. But  here  as  never  before  will  you  find 
incentive  and  opportunity  combined.  ' 

Do  not  for  a  moment  understand  me  to  say 
that  the  conditions  at  college  are  ideal.  Often 
they  are  far  otherwise,  and  of  this  we  will  talk 
more  specifically  by  and  by.  But  this  much  may 
be  said  without  fear  of  contradiction :  that  no 
sincere,  earnest,  faithful  student,  taking  a  well- 
chosen  course  at  an  equally  well-chosen  college, 
ever  regretted  such  action  or  thought  his  four 
years  thrown  away.  No  matter  what  the  super- 
structure is  to  be,  you  will  always  be  glad  that 
you  laid  the  foundation  deep  and  broad  and 
strong. 

I  have  been  trying  to  tell  you  why  you  ought 
to   go   to  college.     It  may  help   you   in  making 


16       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

your  decision  to  know  that  the  best  business 
men  of  to-day  very  generally  favor  the  graduate, 
preferring  him  to  the  non-graduate  —  all  other 
things  being  equal ;  and  look  for  more  intelli- 
gent effort,  a  wider  outlook,  a  firmer  grasp,  more 
rapid  advancement  than  are  possible  to  the  aver- 
age man  who  has  been  denied  the  privilege  of 
higher  training.  It  is  entirely  true  that  the 
college-bred  boy  must  begin  at  the  bottom,  and 
that  at  the  outset  he  appears  to  have  lost  time, 
—  wandering  about  among  the  dead  languages 
and  philosophy  and  the  history  of  the  past  and 
fine-spun  theories  of  the  present,  while  the  "  other 
fellow  "  has  mastered  the  elements  of  his  business 
or  calling,  and  is  already  well  up  the  ladder. 
But  the  college  man  is  destined  to  climb  faster 
and  higher.  He  does  not  reach  the  end  of  his 
tether  nearly  so  soon  as  the  "  other  fellow,''  and, 
all  other  things  being  equal,  he  soon  masters  the 
other  fellow  as  being  simply  one  of  the  incidents 
of  the  situation.  It  may  interest  you  to  know 
that  about  one  per  cent  of  the  entire  population 
of  this  country  has  received  a  higher  education, 
yet  this  one  per  cent  holds  more  than  forty  per 
cent  of  all  the  positions  of  confidence  and  trust 


Why   Go  to   College?  17 

and  profit  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  to  grant.  For  some  good  reason, 
your  fellow-citizens  have  thus  officially  and  for- 
mally recorded  their  approval  of  the  results  of 
sound  and  advanced  education.  It  is  especially 
noteworthy  in  this  connection  that  as  these  posi- 
tions rise  in  the  scale  of  importance  and  emolu- 
ment—  and  it  is  entirely  proper  that  you  think 
of  both  phases  of  success  —  the  per  centum  of 
college  men  increases.  In  hewing  your  way 
through  life  there  is  constant  and  ample  proof  of 
the  truth  of  the  old  saying  that  an  educated  man 
has  a  sharp  axe  in  his  hand,  while  the  uneducated 
man  has  a  dull  one. 

It  may  be  well  to  remind  you  that  in  all  tech- 
nical work  the  demand  for  well-trained  men  is 
now  almost  imperative.  If  you  are  to  be  at  all 
successful  as  a  mechanical  engineer,  as  a  civil  en- 
gineer, as  an  electrical  engineer,  as  a  sanitary 
engineer,  as  an  architect,  and  if  through  such 
callings,  or  through  others  like  these,  you  are  to 
advance  to  such  positions  as  manager  of  some 
great  commercial  organization  or  president  of 
some  large  undertaking  in  the  field  of  produc- 
tion, you  will  find  the  courses  in  the  schools  of 


18      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

applied  science  an  absolute  necessity.  It  is  prac- 
tically impossible,  now,  to  succeed  without  having 
made  good  use  of  such  opportunities;  and  cer- 
tainly it  will  be  impossible  twenty  years  from 
now,  when  it  will  be  too  late  for  you  to  make 
good  any  present  neglect.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  do  more  than  actually  examine  the  re- 
quirements of  the  schools  of  law,  of  medicine,  of 
theology,  to  understand  the  change  which  has 
come  in  that  direction,  and  the  rapidity  with 
which  these  institutions  are  beginning  to  base 
their  own  work  on  that  which  has  earned  the 
bachelor's  degree. 

So  I  think  I  am  quite  warranted  in  believing 
that  you  are  going  to  college.  I  hope  you  are 
really  going,  and  that  you  are  not  one  of  those 
who  are  sent.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  put  here 
or  there,  by  other  people,  with  no  consultation  of 
your  own  wishes.  It  will  make  all  the  difference 
possible  if  you  are  going  of  your  own  choice,  will- 
ingly, gladly.  The  work  which  is  done  under 
compulsion  is  rarely  very  successful,  and  this  is 
surely  one  reason  why  students  fail.  And  I  hope 
you  are  entering  upon  this  new  field  with  a  high 
courage,  born  of  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 


Why   Go  to   College  f  19 

fact  that  practically  every  condition  of  your  col- 
lege life  favors  your  success.  The  work  of  the 
institution  is  adapted  to  the  average  man.  If 
you  happen  to  be  a  little  below  the  average  in 
either  ability  or  preparation  or  determination  or 
will  power,  you  will  have  to  work  a  little  harder 
in  order  to  hold  your  own  —  but  you  can  hold  it, 
by  faithful  endeavor;  never  fear  about  that. 
These  five  elemental  and  fundamental  character- 
istics Lhepe  you  will  develop  and  cultivate:  — 
Sobriety  of  thought  :  as  the  very  opposite  of 
the  only  too  general  flippant  temper  of  American 
life.  The  great  questions  of  time  and  eternity 
are  not  to  be  regarded  as  of  trifling  importance. 
The  problems  of  life  are  many  and  grave,  and 
have  taxed  the  wisdom  and  the  strength  of  gen- 
erations of  men  who  have  been  both  wise  and 
strong  ;  and  you  are  not  to  dismiss  them  with 
some  smart  remark,  or  with  a  sneer.  It  is  easy 
to  be  "  funny '  at  the  expense  of  serious  things, 
but  it  is  destructive  of  all  mental  wholesomeness 
to  be  so.  I  am  not  suggesting  that  you  become 
old  beyond  your  years,  but  that  you  treat  weighty 
matters  with  a  temper  and  attention  befitting 
their  importance. 


20       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

Simplicity  of  life  :  for  only  so  will  you,  as 
either  student  or  graduate,  find  time  for  real  life, 
the  life  about  which  we  have  been  already  talking 
together.  The  constant  tendency,  in  college  and 
out,  seems  to  be  toward  complexity,  toward  a  vast 
aggregation  of  the  unnecessary  even  if  not  of  the 
positively  undesirable,  toward  customs  and  prec- 
edents and  manners  which  eat  the  heart  out  of 
the  day  before  the  real  day's  work  is  well  begun, 
which  demand  hours  at  night  which  were  far 
better  given  to  earnest  thought  and  strenuous 
endeavor. 

Absolute  integrity  :  without  which  one  cheats 
himself  of  far  more  than  he  cheats  the  world, 
easily  and  entirely  defeats  the  very  end  of  his 
college  life,  and  runs  swiftly  and  surely  into 
entanglement  and  confusion  and  dire  disaster. 

Courage  :  since  the  determined  will,  the  indom- 
itable temper,  the  "  I  will  it "  of  a  born  autocrat, 
the  self-mastery  which  must  precede  all  other 
mastery  —  these  and  more  are  possible  only  to 
the  brave  soul. 

Strength  :  which  is  the  sympathetic  and  intel- 
ligent development  and  the  successful  coordina- 
tion of  all  the  powers  of  mind,  body,  and  spirit ; 


Why   G-o  to   College?  21 

and  without  this  development  and  coordination 
no  man  is  well  educated  or  well  trained,  nor  can 
he  possibly  hope  to  secure  the  broadest  and  best 
education  or  the  soundest  training. 

But  all  this  means  simply  that  you  will  under- 
take your  work  in  the  fear  of  God,  which  is  the 
beginning  of  all  wisdom  ;  and  will  ground  your 
work  on  righteousness  of  life,  which  is  the  only 
sure  and  ever  sure  foundation.  Taking  up  your 
new  life  in  this  spirit,  you  need  have  neither 
thought  nor  fear  of  failure. 


II 

The  Choice  of  a  College 

It  is  settled,  then,  that  you  are  going  to 
college.  The  next  and  very  natural  question 
is,  what  college  ? 

If  your  father  is  a  college-bred  man,  you  will 
almost  instinctively  turn  to  his  alma  mater.  You 
have  often  talked  of  this,  while  you  were  at 
your  preparatory  work ;  have  talked  of  it  so 
much  that  you  regard  the  question  as  practi- 
cally settled.  Naturally  enough  —  since  with 
this  college  you  are  already  acquainted,  you 
know  its  traditions  and  precedents,  you  have 
caught  something  of  its  spirit.  Your  father 
would  like  to  have  you  tread  the  paths  with 
which  his  feet  were  once  so  familiar  ;  would  like 
to  know  that  you  are  reviving  his  fame  in  the 
old  literary  society  (generally  with  some  classic 
name);  enjoys  the  thought  of  your  singing  the 
old  songs   in   the    one-time    chorus    or    musical 

22 


The   Choice  of  a  College  23 

union ;  is  glad  to  know  that  his  interest  in 
athletics  is  to  be  renewed  by  having  you  on 
the  college  team  ;  and  very  generally  favors  your 
becoming  one  of  his  fellow  alumni.  Possibly 
he  has  already  taken  you  down  or  up  to  a  com- 
mencement, has  introduced  you  to  the  president 
and  to  some  of  the  older  members  of  the  faculty, 
has  had  you  dine  with  him  at  the  house  of  his 
fraternity,  has  shown  you  his  old  room  in  the 
still  older  dormitory,  and  has  tramped  with  you 
for  a  whole  afternoon  —  over  the  hills  and  far 
away,  but  with  the  college  town  ever  in  sight. 
He  will  not  understand  why  you  even  think  of 
going  elsewhere  ;  possibly  he  will  object  to  your 
going  elsewhere.  If  he  is  loyal  to  the  crimson 
of  Harvard,  he  surely  will  not  wish  you  to  en- 
list with  the  sons  of  Eli ;  if  he  has  come  from 
under  the  moulding  hand  of  Mark  Hopkins,  he 
will  be  heartbroken  to  have  you  go  to  Amherst ; 
if  he  wears  the  blue  and  white  of  Columbia,  he 
can  see  nothing  good  in  the  small  "  fresh- water  " 
colleges  of  the  interior  ;  and  so  on  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter. 

Now,  with  some  exceptions,  it  is  not  going  to 
do  you  serious  harm  to  go  to  your  father's  col- 


24       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

lege.  There  is  a  very  decided  advantage  in  his 
interest  in  all  this,  and  in  your  interest  in  it, 
and  in  a  predetermined  interest  of  the  college 
in  you.  These  relations  are  mutual,  and  mutu- 
ally helpful  and  beneficial.  It  is  entirely  natural 
to  give  all  these  conditions  very  full  weight  as 
reasons  for  your  choice.  Yet,  after  all,  it  may 
be  very  wise  for  you  to  decide  squarely  against 
your  father's  alma  mater.  It  is  certainly  well 
worth  your  while  to  give  this  matter  most  seri- 
ous consideration. 

Remember  that  the  college  is  not  an  end  but 
a  means  to  an  end.  You  are  not  going  to  col- 
lege simply  because  it  is  the  fashion  to  do  so  in 
your  segment  of  the  social  world,  or  because  your 
father  went,  or  for  any  similar  or  similarly  in- 
adequate reason.  You  are  going  to  college  for 
a  very  definite  purpose,  to  secure  a  very  defi- 
nite result.  You  wish  to  come  into  some  effi- 
cient knowledge  of  yourself,  to  secure  a  reasonable 
mastery  of  your  powers,  to  change  the  rather 
filmy  and  nebulous  and  gelatinous  mass  called 
your  brain  into  something  with  clearness  of  out- 
line and  firmness  of  grasp,  to  substitute  a  steady 
and  powerful    mental    stride  for  a  rather   sham- 


The   Choice  of  a   College  25 

bling  mental  gait,  to  put  grip  and  grit  in  place 
of  mental  flabbiness,  and  to  lay  well  either  the 
general  or  the  special  foundation  for  the  activi- 
ties of  later  life.  Now  your  father's  college 
may  be  just  the  place  where  you  can  accomplish 
all  this,  and  then  again  it  may  not  be  the  place 
at  all  ;  and  it  is  proper  and  right  that  you  in- 
quire into  this  very  closely.  Almost  no  part 
of  our  American  life  has  changed  more,  or  more 
rapidly,  or  more  helpfully,  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  —  since  your  father  left  college  —  than 
education.  In  purpose  and  plan,  in  end  and 
means,  in  theory  and  methods,  in  the  general 
curricula  and  in  all  the  details  of  the  work, 
there  has  been  almost  a  revolution.  There  have 
been  some  excesses,  as  is  true  of  all  revolutions  ; 
but  the  advance  has  been  wonderful  and  admir- 
able. It  would  be  difficult  to  express  mathemati- 
cally, by  ratios  or  proportions  or  per  cents,  the 
gains  which  have  been  made.  You  ought  to 
have  the  benefit  of  all  this  ;  and  it  is  only  wise, 
therefore,  that  you  question  closely,  and  even 
sharply,  before  you  reach  a  final  conclusion. 

Speaking  in  general   terms  :  first,  you    should 
connect  yourself   with   a    well-known  and   pros- 


26       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

perous  institution ;  for  much  the  same  reason 
that  you  seek  connection  with  a  strong  business 
house  or  professional  firm.  Otherwise  it  may- 
happen  that,  when  you  mention  your  college 
hereafter,  you  will  necessarily  make  explanation 
—  which  is  rather  humiliating  to  say  the  least ; 
you  will  find  yourself  carrying  the  college  instead 
of  the  college  carrying  you.  If  you  are  seeking 
a  business  position,  you  know  the  value  of  a 
strong  reference.  There  are  some  individuals, 
and  some  firms,  whose  names  carry  great  weight. 
An  indorsement  from  them  is  peculiarly  help- 
ful, may  easily  be  the  open  sesame  to  the  very 
field  which  you  most  desire  to  occupy,  the  wide 
door  to  the  broad  and  beaten  pathway  to  suc- 
cess. This  is  not  the  result  of  the  name  alone, 
in  and  of  itself  ;  the  peculiar  value  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  part  of  the  business  world  in  which 
you  are  interested  and  which  you  desire  to  have 
interested  in  you,  believes  that  one  who  has 
been  in  touch  with  such  a  firm,  or  one  who  has 
acquitted  himself  acceptably  to  such  an  indivi- 
dual, has  had  large  opportunity,  has  proved  him- 
self worthy  of  it,  and  has  profited  by  it.  This 
is  precisely  why  it  gives  a  man  definite  position 


The  Choice  of  a  College  27 

and  immediate  standing  to  be  able  to  say,  "I 
am  a  Columbia  man,"  or  a  "Yale  man,"  or  a 
"  Harvard  man,"  or  a  man  bearing  the  approval 
of  any  one  of  several  other  great  institutions. 
And  this  again  is  why  it  is  really  of  very 
little  assistance  to  name  any  one  of  the  hundreds 
of  still  other  colleges  and  so-called  colleges ;  for 
the  only  answer,  if  any,  will  be  either,  "  That's 
a  rather  feeble  institution,  is  it  not  ? "  or, 
"Where  is  that?     I  never  heard  of  it  before." 

Remember  that  the  objection  to  your  attend- 
ing such  a  college  is  not  simply  that  its  name 
will  not  be  of  assistance  to  you  after  graduation. 
The  objection  lies  in  the  cause  of  this  fact.  For 
the  college  will  be  known,  and  its  diploma  will 
be  honored,  if  its  curriculum,  its  equipment,  its 
faculty,  and  its  methods,  are  strong  enough  to 
add  positive  strength  to  your  character  and  to 
quicken  your  development.  The  fact  that  it  is  not 
known,  or  is  not  widely  known,  or  is  not  favorably 
known,  ought  to  make  you  pause  and  ponder 
before  casting  in  with  it  your  fortunes  and  your 
future. 

The  college  of  your  choice  ought  to  be  prosper- 
ous, because  the  demands  of   modern   education 


28       The   College  Student  and  His  Problem* 

are  great.  The  best  men  cost  money,  and  a  great 
deal  of  money  ;  an  adequate  library  costs  money  ; 
up-to-date  laboratories  cost  money ;  and  all  these 
are  desirable  and  necessary  if  the  very  best  results 
are  to  be  secured.  High-grade  work  of  any  kind 
is  expensive.  You  can  build  a  very  presentable 
house  with  "  seconds ' '  in  the  way  of  material, 
and  with  plenty  of  paint  and  putty  by  way  of 
disguise  ;  but  the  first  year  of  stress  and  strain 
makes  great  gaps  in  it,  and  shows  that,  cheap 
as  it  is,  it  is  really  very  dear  —  since  it  has  failed 
in  its  purpose,  and  the  time  and  labor  which  have 
been  spent  upon  it  have  been  practically  thrown 
away.  So  it  is  with  some  so-called  education. 
But  the  illustration  fails  in  one  important  point. 
It  is  possible  to  repair  and  rebuild  the  house  ; 
but  you  can  rarely  make  good  your  loss  of  sound 
training.  You  have  but  one  real  opportunity 
for  education,  and  that  is  during  the  formative 
period,  while  the  vigor  and  freshness  of  youth 
are  still  upon  you,  and  before  the  cares  and 
anxieties  of  this  world  press  so  heavily  as  to  pre- 
clude attention  to  much  other  than  themselves. 
It  is  a  frightful  mistake,  an  inexcusable  blunder, 
to  waste  this  wonderful  opportunity  upon  a  mere 


The   Choice  of  a   College  29 

name,  a  tradition  or  a   sentiment.     You   should 
guard  against  this  most  carefully.    . 

You  are  to  determine  also  whether  you  are  to 
go  to  a  college  or  to  a  university.  In  this  coun- 
try we  do  not  yet  carefully  distinguish  these  each 
from  the  other  ;  and  many  educational  institu- 
tions are  called  universities  when  they  are  not 
even  high-grade  colleges.  Generally  speaking, 
a  college  confines  its  work  to  the  field  of  the 
liberal  arts,  teaching  science  in  a  rather  subsid- 
iary way,  and  giving  its  chief  attention  to  the 
languages  (especially  the  classics),  mathematics, 
history,  philosophy,  and  literature.  The  larger 
part  of  its  work  is  carefully  prescribed  ;  and  if 
there  is  flexibility  and  choice,  these  are  found 
in  and  between  several  fixed  courses  rather  than 
in  abundant  electives  within  any  given  course. 
Little  if  any  graduate  work  is  undertaken,  and 
no  technical  or  professional  training  is  offered. 
The  catalogue  of  a  university,  on  the  other 
hand,  shows  a  large  number  of  separate  schools 
or  colleges  under  one  general  control  ;  it  offers 
both  technical  and  professional  courses  ;  and  it 
has  a  distinct  faculty  for  graduate  work.  The 
college    faculty     will     number     perhaps     fifteen 


30      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

heads  of  departments,  with  enough  tutors  and 
assistants  to  bring  the  instructional  corps  up  to 
possibly  thirty-five  in  number.  The  official 
roster  of  a  university  may  and  often  does  show 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred  names.  The 
students  at  a  college  will  number  from  two 
hundred  to  four  hundred ;  those  of  a  uni- 
versity not  infrequently  aggregate  three  or  four 
thousand.  The  work  of  a  college  very  gener- 
ally takes  the  form  of  definite  instruction,  daily 
class  work  —  the  class  being  at  least  held  to- 
gether by  some  definite  text-book,  even  if  not 
closely  confined  to  this ;  in  the  university  the 
work  is  more  frequently  that  of  lectures,  sup- 
plemented by  independent  effort  in  the  laboratories 
and  libraries.  The  university  concerns  itself 
more  about  technical,  professional,  and  graduate 
work  ;  the  college  gives  its  entire  strength  to  the 
undergraduate.  The  university  expects  more 
independent  action  on  the  part  of  those  whose 
names  appear  upon  the  rolls.  The  college  places 
teaching  power  at  the  very  front. 

Whether  you  will  choose  a  college  or  a  uni- 
versity will  depend  somewhat  upon  your  age, 
your  maturity,  and  your  preparation,  as  well  as 


The   Choice  of  a   College  31 

upon  what  you  propose  to  make  of  yourself.  If 
you  are  still  quite  young  ;  or  if  you  are  imma- 
ture, thoughtless,  or  inconsiderate  ;  or  if  your 
preparation,  though  perhaps  sufficient,  lacks  posi- 
tive strength  and  breadth  and  thoroughness,  you 
ought  to  choose  a  college.  Generally  speaking, 
the  small  college  is  better  prepared  than  is  the 
average  university  to  supplement  a  lack  of  self- 
control  by  its  own  constant  oversight  and  direc- 
tion. Senator  John  J.  Ingalls  once  said,  "  I  did 
not  get  half  as  much  from  my  college  (Williams) 
as  I  might  and  ought  ;  but  as  I  look  back  upon 
myself,  at  that  time,  I  realize  that  I  should  have 
gone  to  pieces  entirely  in  a  university."  Boys 
may  still  go  to  college  —  ought  to  go  ;  but  only 
men  ought  to  undertake  the  work  of  true  uni- 
versity grade.  Even  those  who  are  to  carry  on 
undergraduate  work  in  some  college  of  a  uni- 
versity ought  to  be  unusually  mature  and  earnest 
and  wise  and  strong,  since  the  university  college 
is  often  highly  colored,  in  its  methods  at  least, 
by  its  relations  with  more  advanced  work  in  the 
same  institution. 

Partly  because   of   university  mismanagement, 
or   at   least   indifference    or   neglect,   and   partly 


32       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

through  tr  d  necessities  and  conditions  of  the 
case,  the  good  small  college  has  at  least  one 
decided  advantage.  You  will  come  at  once  in 
contact  with  the  very  best  men  of  the  faculty  ; 
you  will  be  subject  to  all  the  inspiration  and 
uplift  which  come  from  daily  contact  with  these 
men  ;  stimulating  and  helpful  personal  relations 
are  easily  and  immediately  established.  Quite 
the  opposite  is  apt  to  be  true  of  the  university. 
The  strongest  men,  the  most  noted  men,  are 
giving  their  time  and  strength  and  interest 
largely  to  investigation  and  research,  and  only 
meet  students  in  an  impersonal  way  and  in  a 
rather  indifferent  way,  in  the  lecture  room.  As 
few  if  any  institutions  in  this  country  can  afford 
to  have  two  equally  able  faculties,  one  for  inves- 
tigation and  one  for  instruction,  the  students  in 
lower  university  classes  and  those  in  elementary 
laboratories  are  generally  under  the  care  of  tutors 
or  assistants, —  young  men,  inexperienced  men, 
often  low-grade  men.  Hesitate  though  one  well 
may  in  making  the  admission,  yet  it  is  only  too 
true  that  first-year  men  at  a  university  very 
often  find  themselves  in  the  care  of  those  who  in 
teaching   power,    in   scholarship,  and    in   general 


The   Choice  of  a   College  33 

preparation  for  their  work,  are  decidedly  inferior 
to  the  masters  and  instructors  of  the  first-class 
academies  or  high  schools  which  the  students 
have  just  left.  This  is  one  reason,  perhaps  the 
chief  reason,  why  you  need  to  be  especially 
thoughtful  and  self-reliant  if  you  are  to  attend 
a  university.  You  will  find  far  more  freedom  at 
the  university,  but  you  should  be  sure  that  you 
can  be  trusted  to  enjoy  such  freedom.  It  is  very 
well  to  escape  from  leading  strings  if  you  are 
positive  that  you  can  go  alone,  that  you  can  make 
real  progress  even  though  you  may  occasionally 
fall,  that  if  you  fall  you  can  at  least  rise  with 
your  feet  where  your  head  lay  —  and  thus  gain 
a  length.  If  you  recognize  that  you  need  disci- 
pline other  than  self -discipline,  choose  a  college. 
If  you  cannot  be  trusted  to  divide  your  own  time, 
to  set  yourself  to  your  own  tasks,  to  choose  your 
own  associates,  and  generally  to  do  your  own 
work  in  your  own  way  —  by  all  means  go  to  col- 
lege. You  may  fail  even  then  ;  but  there  are 
more  chances  of  success  than  you  will  find  in  the 
larger  field  of  the  university. 

It  is  often  urged  that  the  college  gives  a  man 
the    opportunity  for   firmer   friendships,   that  he 


34      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

comes  more  readily  into  close  contact  with  his 
fellows,  that  he  knows  more  men  and  knows 
them  better  than  is  possible  in  the  large  univer- 
sity. The  expression  runs  in  this  way  :  "  In 
college,  a  fellow  knows  everybody  and  everybody 
knows  him  ;  in  a  university,  nobody  knows  any- 
body." There  is  much  fallacy  in  this.  In  the 
first  place,  the  value  of  acquaintance  and  friend- 
ship is  not  to  be  measured  by  quantity  but  by 
quality.  The  close  and  lasting  and  sincere 
friendship  of  even  one  thoughtful,  mature,  strong 
man  is  of  far  more  value  than  hail-fellow-well-met 
relations  with  twenty  boys.  The  few  men  who 
spend  hours  together  each  day,  intent  upon  a 
common  task,  or  who  sit  about  a  seminar  table 
absorbed  in  common  research  or  in  common  dis- 
cussion, are  far  more  stimulating  and  helpful  to 
each  other  than  are  the  Toms  and  Jims  and 
Harrys  who  hurrah  on  the  edge  of  the  athletic 
field,  or  who  always  enjoy  the  light-hearted 
gayety  which  follows  the  close  of  a  recitation  — 
entirely  natural  and  proper  and  even  desirable 
as  all  this  may  be.  Further,  the  larger  the 
number  of  students  the  larger  the  opportunity 
for  choice  —  and   choice  plays  no   small   part   in 


The   Choice  of  a  College  35 

forming  helpful  personal  relations.  And,  lastly, 
there  is  a  sense  of  common  origin  and  common 
indebtedness  and  common  pride  which  holds  to- 
gether in  most  helpful  relations  even  the  thou- 
sands of  graduates  of  the  largest  university. 
The  sense  of  mutual  interest,  and  the  willingness 
to  exert  oneself  for  a  fellow-graduate,  seem  quite 
as  strong  among  the  many  as  with  the  few,  while 
the  opportunities  for  helpfulness  increase  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  number  of  the  graduates.  An 
institution  with  a  thousand  alumni  in  each  of 
the  four  great  professions  is  more  than  five  times 
as  helpful  to  each  graduate  as  an  institution 
which  has  but  two  hundred  representatives  in 
each  field  ;  because,  all  other  things  being  equal, 
the  chances  of  contact  are  so  increased,  and  the 
entire  field  is  so  much  more  completely  covered, 
and  the  ratio  of  positively  influential  men  is  so 
much  greater. 

You  are  also  called  upon  to  choose  between  a 
college  course  and  a  technical  or  professional 
course.  It  is  unfortunately  true  that  you  may 
still  enter  the  professions  without  having  secured 
broad  general  training  —  though  the  standards 
of    all   such    work    are   rising   rapidly,  many   of 


36       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

the  best  professional  schools  now  demanding  the 
equivalent  of  an  approved  college  course  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  their  own  work.  How- 
ever, you  are  still  able  to  pass  from  the  academy 
or  high  school  or  fitting  school  directly  to  tech- 
nical or  professional  work  in  many  institutions 
of  at  least  fair  standing.  Shall  you  do  this,  or 
shall  you  continue  your  general-culture  studies  ? 
That  ought  to  be  determined  by  two  conditions 
only  :  your  age  and  your  financial  resources. 

If  for  any  reason  you  have  been  seriously  de- 
layed in  your  preparation  for  college  work,  it 
may  be  best  for  you  to  take  up  your  special 
training  at  once,  —  trusting  to  your  intelligent 
ambition  and  to  your  earnest  purpose  to  make 
good  at  some  time  in  the  future,  by  personal 
effort,  your  limited  education.  Every  normal, 
average  American  ought  to  be  on  his  feet  and 
able  to  assume  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
a  citizen,  breadwinner,  and  head  of  a  household 
by  his  thirtieth  year  at  least.  He  ought  to  look 
forward  to  this,  to  plan  for  this,  and  to  demand 
this  of  himself  and  of  his  instructors.  This 
means  that  he  ought  to  be  independent  and  self- 
supporting  at  the  age  of  twenty-five.     If  modern 


TJie   Choice  of  a   College  3f 

education — general  and  professional — is  so  long 
drawn  out  as  to  prevent  this,  then  there  is  some- 
thing entirely  wrong  in  the  system.  It  is  worse 
than  absurd  to  say  that  a  man  reaches  his  ma- 
jority at  twenty-one,  that  citizenship  may  then 
be  his,  but  that  for  years  afterwards  he  must  be 
dependent  upon  others  for  his  maintenance  if  he 
is  to  be  well  qualified  for  any  of  the  constantly 
multiplying  professions.  This  is  to  bar  the  ap- 
proach to  the  professions  and  to  all  high  callings 
with  gates  whose  locks  answer  only  to  golden 
keys ;  and  this  will  not  be  tolerated  in  this 
country  when  the  fact  is  once  clearly  known. 

If,  therefore,  you  are  so  situated  that  you  can- 
not take  a  full  college  course  and  be  at  your 
life-work  by  your  twenty-fifth  year,  it  will  be 
better  —  with  rare  exceptions  —  to  shorten  your 
course  and  go  without  your  bachelor's  degree. 
But  take  what  general  work  you  can  before  you 
begin  specializing.  The  broader  and  surer  the 
foundation,  the  more  stable  and  durable  and  sat- 
isfactory will  be  the  superstructure.  Do  not  let 
any  foolish  suggestions  or  kindly  intentioned 
advice  to  the  contrary  of  this  have  any  weight. 
Education  is  a  matter  of   time,  and  of  consider- 


38      The   College  Student  and  Hh  Problems 

able  time.  You  can  acquire  information  rapidly, 
but  that  is  quite  another  matter.  It  is  not  so 
much  what  you  know,  as  what  you  can  do  with 
what  you  know.  One  expert  with  a  rapier  is 
worth  three  thick-witted  sluggards  armed  with 
broadswords.  You  need  constant  and  prolonged 
mental  exercise  to  give  you  full  mastery  of  your 
powers,  to  make  you  alert  and  accurate  and 
shrewd  in  scheming,  and  irresistible  in  onset. 
Get  as  much  of  all  this  as  possible  before  turn- 
ing to  your  technical  training,  and  you  will  find 
the  latter  far  more  easy  to  master,  just  as  one 
who  has  taken  a  good  course  in  general  physi- 
cal training  in  a  well-appointed  gymnasium  the 
more  readily  masters  the  use  of  the  gloves  or 
the  foils. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  possibility  of 
pecuniary  embarrassment.  All  that  need  be  said 
again  and  now  is  that  it  is  better  to  borrow  than 
to  lose  the  opportunity  ;  only  do  not  mortgage 
the  future  too  heavily. 

One  more  choice  must  be  made  :  will  you  at- 
tend an  institution  located  in  some  large  city, 
or  in  a  village  or  small  town  ?  If  you  are  to 
go   to   a   technical   school  —  as,    an    engineering 


The  Choice  of  a  College  39 

school  or  a  school  of  architecture  —  the  one  lo- 
cated in  a  large  city  is  to  be  selected  without 
hesitation.  Such  aggregations  of  population  in- 
variably and  inevitably  contain  the  best  possible 
illustrations  of  the  work  to  which  you  are  to 
devote  your  life.  Any  city  of  three  hundred 
thousand  population  and  upwards  will  be  one 
vast  free  laboratory  and  museum  for  you.  Every 
street  has  its  lessons.  Life  under  such  condi- 
tions is  an  education  in  itself.  The  opportuni- 
ties furnished  by  such  a  location  give  an  almost 
infinite  advantage  to  the  bright,  earnest  fellow 
—  with  his  eyes  and  ears  wide  open.  And  this  is 
true,  also,  as  to  those  who  are  studying  for 
one  of  the  four  learned  professions.  The  in- 
cipient lawyer  finds  courts  of  every  style  and 
title  in  which  to  study  forms  and  methods,  the- 
ory, and  practice.  The  student  of  medicine  and 
surgery  has  up-to-date  hospitals  open  to  his  in- 
spection, and  the  work  of  most  renowned  prac- 
titioners constantly  under  his  eye.  One  who  is 
to  minister  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  men  has 
opportunity  to  study  every  phase  of  human  life, 
as  well  as  every  form  of  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion ;  and  the  would-be  teacher  may  investigate 


40       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

every  possible  grade  of  educational  work,  public 
and  private.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  find 
even  a  tithe  of  these  opportunities  outside  the 
larger  cities. 

But  if  you  are  to  carry  on  the  general-culture 
studies  only,  for  a  while  at  least,  there  are  de- 
cided advantages  in  the  village  or  smaller  town. 
There  are  quiet  and  repose  which  the  city  never 
grants,  which  the  city  ever  destroys.  Hours  of 
meditation,  so  strengthening  and  inspiring,  are 
far  more  readily  yours  than  when  you  are  in  the 
stir  and  whirl  of  the  town.  To  those  who  come 
with  open  eyes  and  mind  and  heart,  nature  still 
speaks  a  varied  language.  The  pace  is  not  so 
fast,  the  battle  is  not  so  fierce,  the  struggle  is  not 
so  strenuous,  the  strife  is  not  so  hot.  The  cap 
and  gown,  the  cloister,  the  secluded  quadrangle, 
the  lonely  midnight  vigil  with  ancient  worthies  — 
these  seem  far  more  in  place. 

Two  things  you  will  carefully  keep  in  mind, 
however.  First,  when  the  entire  community 
turns  about  the  college,  when  the  institution 
through  its  students  and  faculty  dominates  the 
town,  when  the  college  gives  color  to  the  social 
life  and   is  practically  indispensable   to  the  very 


The   Choice  of  a   College  41 

existence  of  the  community  —  then  there  is  often 
developed  among  the  students  a  spirit  of  lawless- 
ness, an  undue  sense  of  their  own  importance,  a 
self-conceit,  a  very  barren  intellectual  pride  —  all 
of  which  are  absolutely  fatal  to  sound  growth 
and  to  true  advancement.  Second,  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  twentieth  century  is  surely  to  be  of 
the  urban  type.  The  changes  in  population  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty-five  years  prove  this  most 
conclusively.  Our  mastery  of  all  the  powers  of 
earth  and  air  seems  to  result  inevitably  in  bring- 
ing men  closer  to  their  fellows.  Civic  life,  civic 
manners,  civic  morals  are  to  be  ours  from  this 
time  forth.  The  great  problems  which  we  are  to 
solve,  in  every  conceivable  direction,  are  all  civic. 
That  institution,  therefore,  will  be  most  truly 
helpful,  and  its  graduates  will  receive  most  recog- 
nition and  renown,  which  most  quickly  and  com- 
pletely and  helpfully  puts  its  students  in  touch 
with  civic  life,  in  mastery  of  civic  life  ;  and  such 
contact  and  such  mastery  are  most  surely  and 
most  readily  and  most  naturally  found  in  the 
urban  university. 


Ill 

The  Selection  of  a  Course 

In  your  choice  of  a  college,  you  will  be  guided 
somewhat,  perhaps  even  largely,  by  the  course  of 
study  which  you  desire  to  pursue.  In  these  days 
nearly  every  college  offers  more  than  a  single 
course,  while  in  all  institutions  at  all  prominent 
there  is  much  freedom  of  movement.  Reference 
is  now  to  the  various  courses,  and  not  to  that 
which  is  generally  known  as  the  elective  system, 
which  bears  more  directly  upon  a  possible  choice 
of  subjects  within  a  given  course. 

Taking  into  account  the  choice  of  a  college 
as  well  as  of  a  course,  the  field  which  you  may 
traverse  is  a  wide  one,  and  the  possibilities  of 
selection  are  many.  First,  there  is  always  the 
somewhat  old-fashioned  but  very  desirable  course 
containing  Latin  and  Greek,  and  leading  to  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  Then  there  are 
courses   without    Greek,   substituting   French   or 

42 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  43 

German  (or  both)  for  this  classic.  There  are 
courses  with  the  modern  languages  only,  to  the 
exclusion  of  both  of  the  classics.  In  one  course, 
quite  popular,  it  is  possible  to  give  special  atten- 
tion to  the  three  fundamental  sciences  :  botany, 
chemistry,  and  physics.  In  another,  very  deserv- 
edly growing  in  favor,  the  key-note  is  history 
and  political  science.  If  you  are  to  study  law, 
you  may  have  your  undergraduate  work  colored 
largely  by  civics,  economics,  sociology,  and 
American  history.  If  you  are  to  prepare  for 
journalism,  you  will  be  encouraged  to  strengthen 
yourself  in  English.  Some  institutions  permit  a 
student  to  carry  an  unusual  number  of  subjects 
bearing  especially  upon  finance  and  public  admin- 
istration. To  these,  and  more,  must  be  added  the 
more  strictly  technical  (undergraduate)  courses 
now  offered  in  many  institutions  of  higher  learn- 
ing, especially  in  universities  founded  upon  land 
grants  from  the  general  government,  and  gener- 
ally known  as  state  institutions  ;  such  as  the 
courses  in  civil  engineering,  electrical  engineer- 
ing, mechanical  engineering,  mine  engineering, 
agriculture,  horticulture,  forestry,  architecture, 
ceramics,  chemistry,  and  metallurgy. 


44      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

In  addition  to  all  these,  it  is  now  quite  possible 
to  find,  in  colleges  and  universities  of  excellent 
repute,  special  or  "  short '  courses  for  those  of 
mature  years,  not  seeking  a  degree  or  other 
academic  recognition,  but  desiring  to  add  to 
their  earning  power  or  to  enlarge  their  general 
efficiency. 

It  is  generally  —  not  always  —  true  that  the 
early  work  in  these  courses  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  if  you  find  you  have  made  a  mistake  in  your 
choice,  you  can  turn  into  another  course,  say  not 
later  than  the  close  of  the  first  year,  without  seri- 
ous loss  of  time  and  effort.  Of  course,  from  the 
standpoint  of  general  culture  you  will  be  at  no 
loss  whatever;  for  a  year's  honest  work  in  col- 
lege is  never  thrown  away.  But  if  you  must 
reach  the  goal  of  a  degree  within  a  given  time,  a 
false  start  or  a  by-path  may  cost  you  much  trouble. 
Under  such  conditions,  you  should  determine  your 
choice  with  great  care. 

The  more  highly  specialized  your  course,  the 
more  certain  ought  you  to  be  that  the  end  is  that 
which  you  desire.  To  put  three  or  four  years' 
work  upon  electrical  engineering  when  you  may 
wish    to  study  medicine  would    be  folly  indeed. 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  45 

To  specialize  in  the  sciences  will  not  prove  the 
best  door  to  literary  success.  It  is  quite  neces- 
sary, therefore,  that  you  know  yourself  and  your 
purposes,  something  quite  definitely  of  your 
capacity  and  powers  —  and  you  should  note  the 
clear  difference  between  these  two  —  if  you  are  to 
make  a  wise  selection  of  your  work.  In  the  ineffi- 
ciency or  inexactness  of  such  knowledge  the 
college  finds  one  weakness  and  one  danger  in 
multiplying  courses,  or  in  enlarging  the  number 
of  electives  within  a  course. 

For  very  few  young  men  know  themselves  at 
the  age  at  which  they  enter  college  ;  and  I  think 
that  others  know  them  even  less  accurately. 
Granted  all  that  may  be  said  —  and  much  may  be 
truthfully  said  —  about  the  rapid  development  of 
the  individuality  of  the  American  boy,  of  the 
shrewdness  and  acuteness  and  the  maturity  of 
judgment  which  are  his  at  (say)  eighteen  years 
of  age,  two  facts  remain  forever  beyond  dispute. 
First,  there  is  enough  difficulty  in  changing  from 
one  field  to  another  to  make  most  men  dread  this 
and  avoid  this  —  even  when  conscious  that  an 
error  has  been  made.  So  they  remain  fixed  in 
callings  in  which  they  meet  with  but  only  ordinary 


46       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

success,  because  of  only  half-hearted  devotion. 
Second,  most  men  who  seem  to  have  found  their 
true  places  in  this  world  have  found  these  by  try- 
ing several  places.  Of  this  there  are  illustrations 
without  number.  Once  in  a  while  —  rarely  twice 
in  even  a  great  while  —  men  seem  to  go  to  their 
life-work  with  unerring  instinct,  from  the  very 
cradle.  But  the  boy  who  "  has  always  been  mak- 
ing some  kind  of  machinery  "  does  not  necessarily 
succeed  as  a  mechanical  engineer  any  more  than 
the  boy  who  "  has  always  been  doctoring  sick 
cats,  and  setting  the  broken  legs  for  all  the  dogs 
in  the  neighborhood  "  ("  a  born  bone  setter  '  as 
the  phrase  once  ran)  is  a  natural  doctor ;  the  kind 
of  doctor,  by  the  way,  of  whom  people  will  do  well 
to  beware.  It  is  because  of  this  uncertainty  of 
purpose  and  this  ignorance  of  self  that  the  wisest 
educators  and  the  most  thoughtful  students  of 
mankind  have  always  given  such  loyal  adherence 
to  the  general-culture  courses,  and  especially  to 
the  classical  courses. 

This  adherence  does  not  mean  that  all  culture 
power  is  denied  to  other  courses.  It  is  simply  an 
insistence  upon  that  broad  and  humanizing  work 
which  has  been  and  which  ever  will  be  one  of  the 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  47 

best  and  surest  foundations  for  large  and  gener- 
ous life.  If  you  really  desire  to  find  yourself, 
you  must  look  yourself  all  over.  It  is  no  more 
satisfactory  and  conclusive  to  stare  steadily  and 
only  at  your  mathematical  faculty  or  your  lin- 
guistic ability,  than  it  is  to  examine  only  your 
fingers  or  your  toes.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to 
whether  manual  training  brings  some  general  cul- 
ture as  well  as  mere  dexterity  —  no  one  whose 
opinion  is  of  the  slightest  value  will  deny  that 
the  two  may  go  together ;  it  is  a  question  as  to 
what  line  of  work  gives  the  greatest  general  cul- 
ture. You  are  less  concerned  about  the  depth 
and  thickness  and  strength  of  the  foundation 
wall  on  one  side  of  the  building,  and  more  con- 
cerned about  the  breadth  and  general  sufficiency 
of  the  entire  foundation.  You  are  not  yet  sure 
about  the  building  which  you  are  to  erect  upon 
these  foundations  —  and  they  ought  to  be  large 
enough,  and  strong  enough,  to  carry  anything 
you  may  wish  to  build.  You  cannot  erect  a  com- 
fortable residence  on  a  six-by-nine  cellar  wall. 
It  fell  to  my  lot  once,  speaking  for  a  large  num- 
ber of  his  fellow-citizens,  to  offer  a  gentleman 
peculiar   recognition    and  promotion.      "  I  must 


48      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

decline,"  he  said  to  me  privately  ;  "  I  know  my 
limitations,  and  I  am  not  equal  to  the  task.  My 
early  education  was  neglected,  I  was  allowed  to 
go  to  my  life-work  without  completing  even  my 
high  school  course  ;  and  at  forty  years  of  age  I 
am  at  the  end  of  my  rope."  I  did  not  quite 
believe  this,  but  he  was  firm  in  his  sad  decision. 
Broad,  general  culture,  secured  by  sound 
methods  and  under  the  guidance  of  inspiring 
teachers,  becomes  a  magic  wand  waved  over  your 
entire  nature.  Just  as  particles  of  steel  will 
leap  from  the  dust  to  kiss  the  face  of  a  magnet 
passed  above  them,  so  the  best  that  is  in  you  will 
come  to  the  surface  under  such  training.  You 
will  begin  to  see  yourself  in  true  perspective. 
You  will  learn  what  manner  of  man  you  really 
are,  what  sort  of  a  world  you  are  in,  who  and 
what  are  your  companions,  what  was  your  origin 
and  what  is  your  probable  destination  ;  and  what 
you  had  better  do  about  all  this,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. You  will  come  into  some  measure 
of  self-control.  The  powers  of  concentration  and 
application  will  be  developed.  An  old  farmer 
once  told  me  that  he  liked  to  have  college-bred 
boys  work  for  him  :   "  You  don't  have  to  tell  them 


The  Selection  of  a   Course  49 

everything  and  you  don't  have  to  tell  them  the 
same  thing  twice.  They  have  some  discretion  ; 
and  they  have  memories  that  will  last  them  over 
night."  You  will  find  your  general  horizon 
widening,  you  will  be  able  to  see  several  objects 
at  once  and  to  see  each  distinctly.  You  will  have 
learned  that  while  with  mathematical  accuracy 
two  and  two  always  make  four,  by  adding  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  personality  the  result  will  very 
nearly  equal  five. 

I  have  seen  so  many  men  crippled  by  inadequate 
training  that  it  is  hard  to  turn  from  this  appeal 
for  general  culture.  Of  course,  what  you  will  get 
out  of  it  all  will  depend  entirely  upon  yourself. 
In  the  quaint  but  forceful  phrase  of  the  common 
people,  all  education  can  do  is  to  help  you  to 
make  the  most  of  yourself.  This  should  be  kept 
clearly  in  mind  in  selecting  your  course.  In 
middle  and  later  life  you  will  not  be  measured  by 
your  possessions,  but  by  your  usefulness,  your 
efficiency  ;  not  by  what  you  have  managed  to  get 
out  of  the  community,  but  by  what  the  community 
can  contrive  to  get  out  of  you.  Even  your 
material  success  will  depend  upon  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  service  which  you  can  render. 
s 


50      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

A  man  is  worth  to  himself  just  what  he  is  capable 
of  enjoying.  This  means  the  utmost  enlargement 
of  his  capacity.  He  is  worth  to  the  world  just 
what  he  is  capable  of  imparting,  and  this  means 
the  utmost  development  of  every  power.  These 
two,  capacity  and  power,  form  the  truest  standard, 
the  most  accurate  measure,  of  every  man.  Any- 
thing less  than  this  highest  development,  this 
making  the  most  of  yourself  in  a  very  literal  sense, 
is  not  only  withdrawing  yourself  from  the  best 
that  may  be  and  contenting  yourself  with  the  less 
that  is,  but  is  robbing  the  state  and  society  of 
effective  manhood.  Endeavor  to  determine,  there- 
fore, which  course  will  be  most  helpful  in  the 
matter  of  your  general  growth.  You  should 
make  sure  that  you  are  a  man  as  well  as  an  engi- 
neer, or  a  lawyer,  or  a  scientist,  or  a  minister,  or 
a  doctor,  or  a  teacher  —  really,  you  should  be  a 
man  before  you  are  any  of  these  and  as  a  condi- 
tion-precedent to  becoming  any  of  these.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  choose  between  the  two;  you  can 
be  both,  you  ought  to  be  both  —  but  you  will  be 
the  more  sure  of  large  and  enduring  success  in 
any  special  work  if  you  bottom  it  upon  broad, 
general  culture. 


' 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  51 

You  ought  to  make  language  the  centre  and 
core  of  your  college  course.  The  mastery  of  one's 
mother  tongue  is  of  the  very  first  importance, 
from  every  point  of  view  ;  but  you  really  cannot 
master  English,  in  any  true  or  large  sense  of  the 
words,  without  knowing  something  of  other 
languages.  I  push  language  work  into  this  prom- 
inence, not  because  of  any  personal  interest  (I 
have  never  taught  other  than  English,  and  that 
but  for  a  short  time),  but  because  the  very  nature 
of  language  seems  to  demand  this  recognition. 
Remember  that  in  all  your  education  you  are 
never  to  prefer  mere  erudition  to  power.  You 
must  increase  your  knowledge,  of  course  —  rightly, 
and  on  many  lines  ;  but  do  not  be  deceived  into 
thinking  that  the  increase  of  knowledge  is  all  that 
is  desirable  or  is  the  most  that  is  desirable.  The 
most  desirable  growth  is  in  the  ability  to  use 
knowledge  effectively.  A  man  with  a  poniard 
which  he  knows  how  to  use  is  better  armed  than 
if  he  has  the  finest  Damascus  blade  which  he 
cannot  wield.  Further,  there  is  no  vital,  sane, 
sure  intellectual  life  except  that  which  is  largely 
shared  with  others.  Nowhere  is  there  more  com- 
plete exemplification  of  the   truth   that  he  who 


52       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

would  save  his  life  loses  it,  that  there  is  a  giving 
which  is  a  getting  and  a  withholding  which  is 
simply  a  scattering  abroad.  There  will  be  no  true 
interpretation  of  yourself  except  in  relation  to 
others ;  and  you  cannot  interpret  yourself  to 
others  except  through  language.  You  cannot 
awaken  intelligence  without  awakening  at  the 
same  time  a  very  rational  and  imperative  desire 
to  extend  intelligence  ;  and  you  can  only  extend 
it  by  means  of  language.  If  you  do  not  extend 
it,  the  awakening  will  avail  but  little  ;  without 
movement,  all  life  soon  dies. 

Nor  can  you  even  think  clearly  without  a  good 
and  sufficient  command  of  language.  The  stu- 
dent who  answers  "  I  know  but  I  cannot  tell," 
simply  does  not  truly  know.  Certainly  the  men- 
tal process  can  only  be  final  and  complete  when  it 
has  clearly  and  completely  expressed  itself — to 
itself,  at  least.  If  there  has  ever  been  a  great 
mind  without  a  great  mastery  of  words,  the  world 
does  not  know  the  fact ;  the  world  cannot  know 
the  fact.  Only  by  this  more  perfect  knowledge 
of  language  can  you  possibly  hope  to  understand 
either  the  present  or  the  past,  can  you  project 
yourself   upon  either  the  present  or   the   future. 


The  Selection  of  a   Course  53 

It  is  especially  true  in  a  country  like  our  own 
that  the  tongue-tied  citizen,  the  man  who  neither 
by  pen  nor  by  the  spoken  word  can  express  his 
thoughts  and  hopes  and  fears  and  purposes  and 
desires,  is  far  less  effective  in  his  citizenship  than 
one  who  has  full  power  of  speech.  No  matter 
what  may  be  your  profession  or  calling,  thought 
and  expression  must  be  commensurate.  Lan- 
guage is  the  instrument  of  thought,  but  it  is 
also  the  very  embodiment  of  thought.  Thought 
simply  cannot  live  without  language ;  not  neces- 
sarily spoken  or  written,  but  used  to  clarify  and 
crystallize  thought.  To  master  language  is  to 
have  full  liberty  in  the  intellectual  world,  is  to 
master  the  human  life  which  language  infolds  and 
unfolds. 

Next  to  language,  you  ought  to  select  a  course 
which  will  insure  you  ample  training  in  history, 
especially  in  American  history,  and  in  civics. 
No  man  can  be  au  efficient  citizen  who  has  not 
ample  and  clear  knowledge  of  the  work  of  his 
father  and  of  his  father's  father,  and  of  the  civil 
system  under  which  he  lives.  If  you  are  to  be 
a  man  among  men,  to  play  a  man's  part,  to  exert 
some  influence  in  public  affairs,  you  should  seek 


54       The   College  Student  and  His  Problemt 

and  secure  sound  training  in  these  all  important, 
all  pervasive  subjects.  Never  forget  that  the 
public  business  of  this  country  is  the  private 
business  of  every  adult  within  its  borders.  Only 
as  we  realize  this  and  actively  and  intelligently 
participate  in  the  public  business,  can  we  hope  for 
a  right  or  a  righteous  administration  of  public 
affairs.  The  importance  of  instruction  in  Amer- 
ican history,  and  in  what  may  be  termed  the 
questions  of  the  day,  is  now  so  clearly  recognized 
that  not  to  give  these  subjects  a  definite  and  as- 
sured place  in  the  curriculum  is  to  score  against 
the  college  or  university  from  the  very  start. 
Other  things  being  at  all  equal,  you  are  safe  in 
determining  your  choice  of  a  college  by  the  rec- 
ognition given  these  branches. 

Knowing  that  you  will  have  adequate  oppor- 
tunities in  the  study  of  your  mother  tongue,  of 
its  literature,  and  of  some  of  the  other  languages 
kindred  to  it,  from  whose  confluence  flows  the 
great  stream  of  English  which  is  now  so  insist- 
ently and  powerfully  overflowing  the  known 
world;  and  having  selected  a  course  which  in- 
cludes history  and  civics  (or  political  science,  to 
use  a  more  generic  term)  —  it  really  matters  little 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  55 

with  what  else  you  occupy  your  time.  You  will 
of  course  get  enough  of  one  or  two  fundamental 
sciences  to  quicken  your  appreciation  of  the  sci- 
entific temper  and  method,  and  of  the  great 
results  which  have  followed  the  incoming  of 
these.  You  will  take  mathematics  for  the  sake 
of  the  effect  upon  your  reasoning  powers.  (Mr. 
Webster  is  said  to  have  gone  over  his  plane  and 
solid  geometry  every  year  of  his  public  life,  to 
strengthen  himself  in  all  the  processes  of  logic.) 
Above  all,  you  will  be  sure  to  undertake  at  least 
a  few  things  which  you  do  not  like  ;  since  the 
fact  that  this  or  that  is  distasteful  to  you  shows 
the  desirability  of  strengthening  that  particular 
part  of  your  mentality  to  which  the  particular 
subject  does  not  appeal.  Further,  you  should 
give  yourself  the  discipline  of  attacking  and  mas- 
tering much  that  presents  a  repellent  front.  The 
greater  part  of  the  world's  work  becomes  more 
or  less  distasteful  to  those  engaged  in  it,  and  is 
oftener  accomplished  under  pressure  of  necessity 
or  of  a  sense  of  duty,  than  from  inclination. 
You  should  learn  to  do  such  work  in  that  way. 
The  value  of  examinations  still  lies  largely  in  the 
fact   that   they  compel   the  student   suddenly  to 


56      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

pull  himself  together,  to  concentrate  all  his  ener- 
gies, and  with  unusual  staying  power  and  in  a 
masterful  temper  to  meet  one  of  life's  many  emer- 
gencies. So  the  value  of  many  themes  is  to  be 
found  in  the  downright  hard  work  required  to 
drive  yourself  through  with  the  task. 

In  selecting  your  course,  or  the  subjects  within 
the  course,  there  is  no  reason  why  you  shall 
not  pay  considerable  regard  to  your  probable 
future,  while  keeping  fast  hold  upon  general 
culture.  If  the  chances  are  that  you  will  study 
law  or  turn  to  journalism,  then  as  far  as  possible 
strengthen  yourself  in  political  and  constitu- 
tional history  and  in  political  science.  If  you 
will  probably  practise  medicine,  you  should 
give  special  attention  to  the  various  forms  of 
biology.  If  you  hope  to  enter  the  field  of 
letters,  add  to  your  prescribed  work  much  of  lan- 
guage and  literature  —  especially  along  the  lines 
of  criticism  and  construction.  If  you  are  to 
expend  your  strength  in  the  business  world, 
take  special  work  in  economics,  banking  and 
finance,  and  in  general  administration  —  both 
public  and  private.  If  you  hope  for  preferment 
in  politics,  using  the   word  as   entirely  synony- 


The  Selection  of  a   Course  57 

mous  with  the  public  service  —  and  using  these 
latter  words  in  their  ancient  and  honored 
though  somewhat  forgotten  meaning  of  serving 
the  public  —  you  ought  to  dwell  upon  the 
elements  of  the  common  law,  upon  institu- 
tional law  and  the  history  of  diplomacy,  upon 
constitutional  and  political  history  again,  upon 
the  industrial  history  of  this  country.  If  you 
are  thinking  of  the  ministry  or  of  teaching, 
your  best  and  most  important  work  will  lie  in 
psychology,  physiology,  sociology,  and  education. 
Some  institutions  now  make  special  provision 
for  so  fusing  the  undergraduate  work  with  that 
of  the  graduate  in  the  professional  school,  that 
some  credits  in  the  last  college  year  will  count 
as  credits  for  part  of  the  strictly  professional 
work  which  is  to  follow,  thus  saving  from  a  half 
year  to  an  entire  year.  An  institution  whose 
management  is  as  wise  and  large  minded  and 
helpful  as  that  deserves  your  careful  and  appre- 
ciative consideration. 

Just  a  word  further  as  to  the  special  or  "  short ' 
courses  offered  by  some  institutions.     If  possible 
avoid  them.     If   for  any  reason  you  are  so  late 
in   beginning   your   college   work   that    you   are 


58      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

positive  that  you  cannot  graduate,  or  if  you  are 
so  desperately  poor  that  you  are  assured  that 
you  can  have  only  half  of  the  educational  loaf, 
then  you  may  rightly  consider  these  courses. 
They  are  much  better  than  nothing,  —  generally 
they  are  carefully  planned,  and  they  are  made  as 
effective  as  possible  under  all  existing  conditions  ; 
but  you  should  turn  to  them  only  under  pressure 
of  most  dire  necessity,  and  with  the  keen  sense 
of  the  loss  which  the  courses  entail  —  a  loss  which 
ought  to  be  positively  unavoidable  before  it  is 
patiently  endured.  It  is  rarely  possible  to  make 
good  this  loss  if  by  some  unexpected  good  fortune 
you  are  enabled  to  complete  the  work  for  a 
degree.  Much  valuable  time  is  thus  thrown 
away,  and  more  than  once  I  have  known  men 
forever  deprived  of  academic  recognition  because 
they  found  it  impossible  to  bring  together,  in  a 
way  which  would  count  toward  a  degree,  scat- 
tered work  which  they  had  undertaken  under 
the  impression  that  "  it  was  just  as  good  as 
a  regular  course,"  or  was  "more  practical,"  or 
because  when  they  entered  college  they  could 
not  see  their  way  clear  to  the  finish.  Let  the 
"short"   or    special   courses   alone,    then,   unless 


The  Selection  of  a  Course  59 

your   thin   pocket-book    or  your  advanced  years 
positively  demand  this  sacrifice. 

Your  wisest  adviser  in  all  this  matter  ought  to 
be  the  president  of  the  college,  or  the  principal 
of  your  preparatory  school.  The  best  members 
of  a  college  faculty  are  only  human,  and  quite 
generally  (and  quite  unconsciously)  are  influenced 
by  their  devotion  and  their  loyalty  to  their 
respective  departments.  Their  chosen  life-work 
naturally  and  inevitably  colors  the  glasses  through 
which  they  look  at  the  work  of  other  depart- 
ments. The  president  is  presumed  to  see  things 
in  a  somewhat  better  perspective,  to  have  a 
broader  outlook,  to  more  wisely  relate  the  de- 
partments to  each  other  and  to  the  great  world 
outside.  But  the  man  who  ought  to  know  you 
best,  and  to  know  the  best  for  you,  is  the  princi- 
pal under  whom  you  have  spent  at  least  four 
of  the  most  productive  years  of  your  life.  A 
wise  and  loving  teacher  is  about  the  best  friend 
a  boy  can  have,  in  any  event.  In  no  other 
direction  is  this  affectionate  interest  more  help- 
fully manifested  than  in  aiding  the  boy  to  make 
a  wise  choice  of  both  college  and  course.  It  is 
a   rare   opportunity,  which   every  teacher   ought 


60       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

to  accept  as  burdened  with  unusual  responsibility, 
yet  as  bringing  a  lofty  privilege.  To  set  the 
feet  of  a  child  well  within  the  beaten  path  of 
knowledge,  and  to  see  the  growth  in  grace  and 
strength  and  favor  with  God  and  man  which  is 
sure  to  follow  a  wise  choice  of  ends  and  means  — 
this  is  the  very  highest  reward. 


/ 


IV 

The  Fateful  First  Year 


Well  begun  is  half  done,  runs  an  old  proverb, 
and  it  is  quite  literally  true.  i  This  is  why  your 
first  year  in  college  is  one  of  the  most  important 
years  of  your  life.  So  pervasive  and  far  reaching 
are  its  results  that  the  adjective  fateful  is  well 
chosen.  If  you  are  so  strong,  so  industrious,  so 
faithful,  so  honest  with  yourself  and  with  others, 
that  you  succeed,  there  is  little  danger  of  failure 
in  any  undertaking  of  your  later  life.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  prove  weak,  and  indolent,  and 
disloyal,  and  dishonest,  there  is  but  slight  chance 
of  your  ever  doing  anything  really  worth  while. 
There  have  been,  and  doubtless  there  always  will 
be,  some  very  notable  exceptions  to  both  rules  ; 
but  they  are  easily  recognized  as  exceptions,  and 
as  quite  rare  exceptions  at  that.  The  reason  for 
this    is   plain.       Just  as  in  later  life    the    bones 

61 


62      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

become  so  calcined  that  it  is  not  only  quite  im- 
possible to  undergo  physical  training  which  might 
secure  betterment  of  form  but  almost  dangerous 
to  undertake  such  work  ;  so  the  habits  of  concen- 
tration, persistence,  industry,  and  faithful  en- 
deavor —  or  their  opposites  —  may  with  extreme 
difficulty  be  broken  down  or  changed.  It  is  a 
very  difficult  task  to  make  over  a  man  in  middle 
life.  The  habits  formed  during  a  college  career, 
the  momentum  there  acquired,  send  one  well 
along  to  middle  life  without  much  hope  or  dan- 
ger of  change. 

Your  freshman  year  is  preeminently  a  year  of 
transition,  and  transition  periods  are  always 
doubtful  and  distressing  and  dangerous.  You 
have  ceased  to  be  a  schoolboy,  and  have  become  a 
collegian ;  you  are  no  longer  a  pupil,  but  a 
student  ;  you  are  no  more  under  tutelage  and 
supervision  as  to  every  detail  of  your  work,  but 
you  have  come  into  a  greatly  enlarged  freedom. 
You  are  uncertain  of  yourself,  of  your  immediate 
present,  and  of  your  entire  future.  All  is  new 
to  you,  very  little  that  you  have  experienced  is 
helpful  to  you  ;  you  are  a  beginner,  and  a  fresh- 
man in  a  very  strict  sense.     You  are  neither  boy 


The  Fateful  First  Year  63 

nor  man.  You  still  have  many  of  the  tastes  and 
habits  of  the  boy ;  there  have  come  to  you  some 
of  the  emotions  and  ambitions  and  aspirations 
of  a  man.  This  condition  creates  very  serious 
difficulties  in  determining  your  relations  to  others 
or  their  relations  to  you.  If  you  are  treated 
like  a  boy,  you  resent  it  and  become  unpleas- 
antly aggressive.  If  you  are  treated  like  a  man, 
you  are  disappointing  —  and  you  yourself  con- 
stantly ask  those  in  authority  to  remember  that 
"boys  will  be  boys."  I  am  writing  very  frankly, 
because  you  really  ought  to  see  this  matter 
exactly  as  it  is. 

This  first  year  is  one  of  adjustment.  You 
are  to  get  your  bearings,  to  find  the  true  point 
of  perspective,  to  discover  yourself.  It  is  as 
though  the  curtain  had  risen  upon  an  entirely 
new  scene  ;  and  your  place  on  the  stage,  your 
cues  and  exits  and  entrances,  your  lines,  are  all 
to  be  learned.  You  will  find  less  of  the  letter 
and  more  of  the  spirit,  less  of  memoriter  work 
and  more  of  comprehension  and  positive  assimi- 
lation, less  of  recitation  and  more  of  discussion, 
less  of  the  single  text  and  more  of  collateral 
reading,    less   of    mechanism   and   more   of   life. 


64       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

Your  work  will  be  more  difficult,  but  will  be 
more  enjoyable ;  your  road  will  be  somewhat 
rougher,  but  the  end  of  the  journey  will  bring 
all  the  more  pleasure  ;  your  effort  will  be  more 
wearing,  but  the  achievement  will  repay  in  far 
greater  proportion. 

This  is  a  year  in  which  you  are  to  establish 
precedents  and  to  fix  habits.  If  you  go  about 
your  work  systematically,  in  an  orderly  way, 
with  a  definite  movement,  you  will  not  depart 
from  these  methods  in  later  life.  If  you  are 
loose,  and  disjointed,  and  slack-twisted,  and  per- 
mit yourself  to  become  mentally  frayed-at-the- 
edges,  the  chances  are  against  your  ever  pulling 
yourself  together  and  going  about  any  task  in 
a  really  masterful  way.  Start  right,  then,  with 
accuracy  and  promptness  and  snap  and  vim,  and 
every  day  of  your  life  will  find  you  moving 
more  easity  and  more  surely  and  more  success- 
fully. Dawdle,  and  shuffle,  and  evade,  and 
whine,  and  your  fate  is  sealed.  May  God  have 
pity  on  you,  for  you  may  be  sure  man  will  have 
none.  Long  before  you  have  reached  even  mid- 
dle life,  you  will  have  been  cast  into  the  human 
scrap-heap  —  worthless.      It    is   a   sad   fate,  ter- 


The  Fateful  First   Year  65 

ribly  sad,  and  peculiarly  sad   because   so  wholly 
avoidable. 

In  college  you  are  beginning  life.  Some 
people  will  tell  you  that  you  are  preparing  to 
begin  life,  but  do  not  believe  them.  Do  all  you 
possibly  can  to  prove  that  the  contrary  is  true. 
To  exist  is  easy,  almost  too  easy  ;  but  to  live 
is  a  far  different  thing.  ■  You  are  not  going  out 
into  the  world  ;  you  have  already  entered  the 
world.  The  question  of  self-mastery  is  not  to 
come  to  you  by  and  by  ;  it  is  with  you  at  this 
very  moment.  It  is  not  in  the  distant,  in- 
definite future  that  you  may  be  called  into 
action  ;  the  call  is  even  now  in  your  ears. 
You  may  sit  among  the  favored  sons  who  are 
princes,  or  below  the  salt  with  the  hirelings  — 
it  is  for  you  to  determine,  and  you  are  to 
determine  now.  It  is  for  you  to  say  whether 
this  is  to  be  a  year  of  promise  or  a  year  of 
failure.  If  of  promise,  there  is  almost  no  doubt 
of  fulfilment.  If  of  failure,  it  will  be  failure 
dire,  disastrous,  and  final.  In  my  observation 
of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  have 
rarely  known  a  man  to  be  much  other  than 
what  his  first  college  year  made  him,  or  left 
v 


66      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

him.  The  exceptions  are  not  so  rare  as  to 
make  you  hopeless,  but  they  are  so  rare  that 
you  ought  to  strain  every  nerve  for  success. 

It  is  especially  true  that  the  college  work  of 
the  last  three  years  is  peculiarly  dependent 
upon  the  thoroughness  and  accuracy  of  the  work 
of  the  first  year.  If  your  freshman  mathematics 
are  treated  carelessly,  you  will  go  deeper  in  the 
mathematical  mire  each  term  and  each  year 
thereafter  ;  and  while  you  may  possibly  secure 
the  "  pass "  in  the  mathematics  of  the  general 
course,  you  will  lose  all  the  training  and  mental 
development  peculiar  to  this  study,  and  you  will 
become  totally  unfitted  for  any  technical  work 
whatever.  If  the  details  of  construction  in  lan- 
guage work  are  slighted  and  slurred,  you  will 
never  acquire  that  ease  and  freedom  of  move- 
ment which  alone  assures  the  enjoyment  that 
comes  from  companionship  with  the  best  spirits 
of  the  past.  If  the  sources  of  history  are  not 
thoroughly  explored,  you  cannot  sail  with  de- 
light upon  that  vast  and  increasing  river  of 
human  events  whose  onflow  has  brought  us  all 
the  richness  and  gratification  of  the  present.  If 
the  beginnings  of  science  are  not  mastered,  you 


The  Fateful  First   Year  67 

may  be  sure  that  you  will  not  acquire  that 
habit  of  accurate  investigation,  that  unwilling- 
ness to  be  content  with  vague  and  general 
statements  as  to  "more  or  less,"  that  insistence 
upon  knowing  whether  it  is  more  or  less  and  ex- 
actly how  much  more  or  how  much  less,  which 
are  so  very  essential  to  all  lasting  success  under 
present  world  conditions.  If  you  would  be  happy 
and  care-free  in  your  later  course,  start  right. 

Are  you  to  room  in  one  of  the  dormitories 
or  at  a  private  house  ?  That  will  depend 
largely  upon  yourself  and  upon  conditions.  If 
you  are  reasonably  sure  of  yourself,  if  you  know 
that  your  moral  backbone  is  in  place  and  is  in 
good  working  order  ;  if  you  are  prepared  to 
fight  to  a  finish  all  the  direct  and  indirect,  the 
known  and  unknown,  temptations  of  mass  life — 
then  chose  the  dormitory,  provided  always  that 
it  is  well  managed  and  clean  and  in  a  thor- 
oughly approved  sanitary  condition.  But  if  you 
are  at  all  in  doubt,  give  yourself  the  benefit  of 
the  doubt,  and  go  to  some  private  house  during 
your  first  year.  There  will  be  some  restraints, 
of  course  ;  but  these  will  be  helpful  rather  than 
merely  irksome.     The  sense  of  responsibility,  of 


68       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

relief  from  a  certain  accountability,  of  freedom 
from  restraint,  is  precisely  that  characteristic  of 
life  in  a  large  city  which  makes  such  life  posi- 
tively dangerous  to  all  but  strong,  self-contained 
men.  By  some  strange  fatuity  we  tend  to  re- 
vert to  barbarism,  and  we  constantly  need  the 
pressure  of  restraint  placed  upon  us  by  known 
and  fixed  relations  to  others.  It  will  be  a  good 
thing  for  you,  in  every  way,  to  know  and  feel 
these  relations  ;  and  you  will  be  spared  much 
that  would  unduly  vex  and  try  you,  and  waste 
your  time  and  strength,  in  this  first  year  in 
which  you  need  about  all  of  both  time  and 
strength  for  the  work  immediately  in  hand. 
You  need  not  be  a  recluse  because  your  room 
is  in  a  private  house.  You  should  board  else- 
where, and  make  table  companions  at  least  of 
your  classmates  and  others  ;  and  you  should  be 
much  among  men.  But  your  room  should  be 
your  castle,  to  which  you  can  retire  at  any  time 
and  be  sure  of  carrying  your  work  without  the 
slightest  fear  of  interruption.  This  privacy  and 
these  quiet  hours  are  all  the  more  assured  to 
you  if  there  are  no  other  students,  or  but  few 
other  students,  rooming  in  the  same  house. 


The  Fateful  First   Year  69 

But  after  the  first-year  battle  is  over,  and  you 
have  fairly  won,  and  feel  sure  of  yourself  and  of 
your  position — then  go  to  the  dormitory,  or  to 
the  fraternity  house,  or  where  you  please.  The 
more  constant  and  intimate  your  contact  with 
men  and  affairs  the  better  :  always  subject  to 
faithful  work  on  that  part  of  the  curriculum 
then  under  consideration.  This  is  perhaps  a 
proper  place  in  which  to  urge  that  during  the 
last  three  years  of  your  course  you  ought  to  meet 
and  know  as  many  men  as  possible.  To  come 
wisely  and  studiously  and  helpfully  in  contact 
with  your  fellows  is  a  large  education  in  itself. 
Nothing  so  completely  repays  study  as  man,  or 
men.  Rocks  may  be  exceedingly  interesting  to 
the  geologist,  and  bugs  may  seem  to  satisfy  all 
the  higher  cravings  of  the  entomologist  ;  but 
man  is  surely  of  higher  importance  and  of  greater 
interest  than  either.  Cultivate  man,  therefore, 
for  the  benefits  conferred  as  well  as  received. 
You  will  not  always  be  the  recipient ;  there  will 
surely  come  a  time  when  you  can  give  and  give 
freely  —  wise  counsel,  encouragement,  friendship 
—  a  giving  which  in  itself  will  prove  a  getting, 
and  a  getting  even  more  abundantly.     You  need 


70      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

not  have  many  friends,  probably  you  will  not 
have  many  ;  but  you  ought  to  have  a  large  list  of 
acquaintances.  The  larger  the  variety  of  types, 
the  more  valuable  will  be  your  contact  with 
them.  The  strength  and  completeness  of  a  com- 
posite picture  lies  in  the  number  of  sitters  ;  and 
if  you  are  to  know  the  world  at  all  well,  you 
must  know  it  along  world  lines.  No  single  habit 
or  power  will  be  more  helpful  to  you  in  later  life 
than  the  habit  or  power  of  grappling  with  men 
and  holding  them  fast  to  you,  with  a  sense  of 
pleasure  in  their  acquaintance  with  you.  I  have 
known  many  men  whose  general  success  seemed 
to  turn  upon  this  one  characteristic,  and  I  have 
known  many  men  who  utterly  failed  because 
they  had  none  of  this  power.  I  well  recall  a 
student  who,  because  of  friendly  banter,  sat 
down  to  see  how  many  of  his  fellows  he  could 
Dame  and  so  describe  as  to  enable  us  to  identify 
them.  When  he  closed  at  something  over  three 
hundred,  I  think  we  all  felt  that  he  was  on  the 
high  road  to  success,  no  matter  what  might  be 
his  chosen  path ;  and  the  passing  years  have 
approved  our  opinion.  This  is  one  reason  why 
there  is  peculiar  advantage   in  the  large  univer- 


The  Fateful  First  Year  71 

sity.  Once  I  heard  a  student  complain  that  there 
was  little  or  no  companionship  possible  at  the 
university  where  he  was  getting  the  last  half  of 
his  undergraduate  course.  Referring  to  the  small 
college  where  he  had  been  a  freshman  and  a 
sophomore  he  said :  "  There  I  knew  almost  every- 
body, here  I  know  almost  nobody."  Yet  careful 
inquiry  showed  that  of  some  five  thousand  stu- 
dents he  knew  reasonably  well  more  than  two 
hundred,  while  at  college  he  could  only  have 
known  one  hundred  and  forty-three  even  if  he 
had  literally  "  known  everybody  "  —  since  those 
were  all  there  were  to  know. 

It  is  this  breadth  of  acquaintance  which  is 
peculiarly  and  practically  helpful  to  a  man  after 
he  leaves  college.  No  men  are  quite  as  warm 
and  cordial  and  friendly  and  unselfish  in  their 
relations  as  are  the  alumni  of  any  given  institu- 
tion. There  is  no  little  enlightened  selfishness, 
then,  in  cultivating  men. 

Are  you  to  have  a  room-mate  during  your  first 
year  ?  Not  unless  all  conditions  are  extraordi- 
narily favorable.  If  you  are  positively  sure  of 
your  man,  —  in  mind  and  purpose  and  heart  and 
temper  and  soul  and  strength,  —  take  him  if  you 


72      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

wish.  Even  then,  the  chances  are  that  there  are 
characteristics  of  your  own  which  make  it  more 
desirable  that  you  fight  out  this  first  year's  battle 
alone  —  entirely  alone.  It  is  almost  impossible 
for  two  room-mates  to  be  so  evenly  balanced  that 
one  does  not  come  to  depend  unduly  upon  the 
other.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  worse 
mental  habit  than  "  studying  together "  —  en- 
tirely different  from  a  conference  at  the  close  of 
the  work  ;  and  one  or  the  other  of  the  parti- 
cipants is  sure  to  go  lame  before  the  end  of  the 
race.  There  is  grave  danger,  also,  of  a  certain 
moral  dependence,  a  leaning  of  the  one  conscience 
upon  the  other,  which  naturally  and  inevitably 
results  in  moral  flabbiness,  and  in  a  general  in- 
ability to  use  one's  moral  legs.  There  is  great 
and  entirely  reasonable  pleasure  in  the  intimacy 
which  comes  from  sharing  the  same  room  ;  and 
some  of  the  most  delightful  and  inspiring  and 
lasting  friendships  have  begun  in  this  way.  But 
there  is  time  for  all  these  later :  when  you  have 
your  second  wind,  and  know  the  course  and  the 
pace,  and  are  running  the  race  easily  and  with- 
out the  stress  and  strain  of  the  first  half.  The 
slower  you  are  in  making  friends,  the  more  care- 


The  Fateful  First   Year  78 

ful  your  choice  of  those  with  whom  you  are  to 
be  intimate  —  the  fewer  you  will  be  compelled  to 
throw  aside  in  the  final  analyses  ;  and  the  discard 
is  always  unpleasant  if  not  positively  painful. 

Now,  as  to  your  use  of  time.  You  are  to 
carry  the  equivalent  of  at  least  three  studies  or 
"hours,"  each  of  five  week  days.  The  general 
educational  rule  is  that  for  each  hour  in  the 
lecture  room  or  class  room  the  average  student 
will  spend  two  hours  in  preparation.  This 
means  nine  hours  of  work  each  day.  But  one 
study  is  quite  likely  to  be  a  science,  in  which 
two  hours  in  the  laboratory  count  for  but  one 
hour  of  outside  work.  This  will  make  ten  hours 
a  day.  You  should  have  at  least  eight  hours 
of  sleep.  To  dressing  and  undressing,  bathing, 
shaving  (for  you  have  reached  this  great  dis- 
tinction !),  and  other  personal  matters,  you  will 
give  at  least  an  hour  and  a  half.  To  your 
three  meals  (including  going  and  coming,  if 
they  are  not  taken  where  you  room,  and  the 
few  moments  of  social  intercourse  both  before 
and  after  each)  you  ought  to  give  at  least  two 
hours.  You  should  have  at  least  one  hour  for 
exercise :  definite,    intelligent,    spirited,    and    al- 


74      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

ways  out  of  doors  if  possible.  You  have  left, 
then,  only  an  hour  and  a  half  of  each  working- 
day  for  the  hundred-and-one  extras,  the  emer- 
gencies, the  unforeseen  matters,  the  multitudi- 
nous demands  of  the  public  college  life,  the 
amusements  and  the  creature  comforts  of  exist- 
ence, your  correspondence,  all  the  minor  inci- 
dents which  so  continuously  press  upon  time 
and  strength  and  attention.  A  well-ordered, 
carefully  regulated  life,  therefore,  becomes  an 
absolute  necessity. 

I  press  this  somewhat  sharply  and  insistently, 
because  so  much  depends  upon  it,  because  so 
many  men  have  gone  to  pieces  through  neglect 
of  this,  because  so  few  are  careful  to  conserve 
their  energies  by  a  systematic  use  of  time  and 
strength.  There  is  no  thought  of  hard  and 
fast  rules.  I  have  little  patience  with  that 
temper  or  habit  which  makes  it  impossible  for 
a  man  to  study  Greek  except  in  a  certain  chair 
in  a  fixed  corner  of  the  room  and  at  a  given 
hour  ;  or  which  makes  a  man  lose  something 
really  worth  while  because  at  that  same  hour 
he  had  agreed  with  himself  to  do  some  other 
and  far  less  important  thing.     All  that  is  sought 


The  Fateful  First   Year  75 

is  to  make  such  an  exact  and  mathematical 
statement  of  the  demands  of  each  day  that  you 
will  see  clearly  the  necessity  of  methodical 
effort,  of  an  intelligent  apprehension  of  what 
you  are  facing  each  day,  and  of  the  utmost 
faithfulness  and  loyalty  to  the  work  in  hand. 
A  margin  of  ninety  minutes  each  day  is  very 
easily  dissipated  and  gone,  without  one's  realiz- 
ing it  ;  and  every  minute  lost  thereafter  is  a 
step  on  the  road  to  student  bankruptcy.  When 
one  recalls  the  many  daily  incidents  which  draw 
upon  a  student's  time,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  the  demand  for  stern  self-control, 
especially  during  the  first  weeks  of  adjustment 
to  all  that  is  so  new  and  strange.  It  is  because 
you  are  so  necessarily  and  so  wholly  inexpe- 
rienced in  this  matter,  and  so  extremely  liable 
to  go  wrong  and  let  your  time  be  frittered 
away  in  a  manner  that  can  bring  you  only  dis- 
appointment and  discouragement  and  probably 
failure,  that  I  make  so  much  of  this  one  feature 
of  your  new  life. 

Let  us  express  all  this  in  figures,  and  see  how 
the  average  day  will  be  divided  and  spent. 
Remember,  this  allotment   is  made  upon  a  basis 


76       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

of  three  courses  only,  with  no  "conditions"  to 
be  made  up,  or  other  extra  demands  upon  your 
time.  If  you  are  carrying  scientific  or  techni- 
cal work,  the  chances  are  that  you  will  have 
nearly  one-fourth  greater  demand.  But  with 
three  hours,  each  day,  or  fifteen  hours  each 
week,  your  time  will  be  spent  about  as  fol- 
lows :  • — 

Rise  at  half  past  six  and  be  ready  for  break- 
fast at  seven.  At  half  past  seven  leave  your 
boarding  house  for  the  class  room.  One  hour  — 
from  eight  till  nine — will  be  given  to  a  lecture. 
Study  from  nine  until  eleven,  at  which  hour 
will  come  your  second  lecture.  It  will  take  a 
half  hour  to  clear  up  odds  and  ends  and  get 
to  your  luncheon  ;  and  one  of  the  wisest  things 
you  can  do  is  to  give  the  hour  after  lunch- 
eon to  light  exercise,  lounging,  and  social  inter- 
course. From  two  until  four  you  are  at  your 
books  again,  with  the  last  lecture  hour  running 
till  five.  From  five  until  six  you  ought  to 
be  on  the  athletic  field  or  in  the  gymnasium  — 
and  it  will  take  a  half  hour  more  to  get  your 
bath  and  "  rub-down,"  and  reach  the  dinner 
table.     By  half  past   seven  you  will  be  in  your 


The  Fateful  First   Year  77 

room    and    ready    for    work  ;    and    three    busy 
hours  take  you  till  bedtime  —  half  past  ten. 

Whatever  the  variants  may  be,  that  is  quite 
a  fair  picture  of  the  well-ordered  life  of  the 
average  college  man.  You  will  easily  see  that 
he  is  constantly  on  the  danger  line,  as  well  as 
on  the  firing  line.  An  evening  at  the  theatre, 
or  with  friends,  or  made  inefficient  by  an  attack 
of  the  blues,  or  given  to  some  college  function, 
makes  a  sad  inroad  indeed  ;  and  a  decided  loss 
can  be  averted  only  by  a  most  industrious  use 
of  Saturday.  But  as  your  work  progresses  you 
will  find  that  even  Saturday  furnishes  less  and 
less  of  a  margin ;  for  that  will  be  given  largely 
to  the  many  extra  demands  constantly  arising, 
to  preparation  for  public  debate,  to  the  discharge 
of  duties  as  officer  of  one  or  more  college 
organizations,  to  writing  some  theme,  to  some 
athletic  or  other  college  function,  to  some 
special  reading  and  research  in  the  college 
library,  to  shopping  or  other  necessary  petty 
business  for  yourself.  These,  and  more  like 
these,  will  soon  entirely  fill  each  holiday  or 
half  holiday.  Your  regular  work  must  be 
accomplished  within  the  five  days  of  their  equiv- 


78       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

alent,  or  it  will  not  be  accomplished  at  all ; 
and  to  accomplish  it  you  will  need  some  such 
definite  working  schedule  as  I  have  suggested. 

President  Hinsdale  used  to  tell  of  a  competition 
between  James  A.  Garfield  (when  he  was  a  stu- 
dent at  Hiram  College)  and  a  fellow-student, 
which  was  so  close  that  the  entire  college  became 
interested  ;  and  students  were  in  the  habit  of 
watching  the  windows  of  the  contestants,  even- 
ings. Garfield's  competitor  was  the  more  brilliant 
fellow  of  the  two  ;  but  the  students  finally  dis- 
covered that  Garfield  had  laid  out  the  work  of 
each  day  very  methodically,  and  that  at  night  his 
light  burned  about  twenty  minutes  longer  than 
that  of  his  competitor.  "The  methodical  work 
and  the  extra  twenty  minutes  won  !  " 

There  is  another  result  of  this  regular  and 
methodical  work  which  in  itself  more  than  repays 
for  all  real  or  apparent  sacrifice  ;  and  that  is,  that 
the  dread  of  examinations  is  practically  unknown. 
The  chief  value  of  a  properly  conducted  examina- 
tion is  that  the  student  cannot  determine  in 
advance  what  is  to  be  either  its  general  course 
or  its  more  specific  direction.  He  is  suddenly 
obliged,  therefore,  to  face  an  emergency,  and  to 


The  Fateful  First  Year  79 

call  all  his  powers  into  action.  But  just  as  con- 
stant and  faithful  work  in  the  gymnasium  takes 
away  all  the  fear  so  often  manifested  by  an  ama- 
teur, because  the  expert  has  come  into  reasonable 
mastery  of  all  his  physical  powers  and  knows 
exactly  what  he  can  do  with  his  body,  so  faith- 
ful daily  effort  enables  a  man  to  move  so  easily 
and  so  freely  in  the  world  of  ideas  that  he  no 
longer  fears  a  fall.  He  has  such  a  mastery  of  the 
subject  that  a  sudden  call  to  tell  what  he  knows 
about  it  has  no  terror  and  does  not  disconcert  him 
in  the  least.  This  is  far  and  away  better  than  a 
constant  fluctuation  between  idleness  and  indif- 
ference, and  repeated  cramming.  Many  a  time 
during  his  life  a  man  is  obliged  to  increase  his  in- 
formation upon  a  given  subject  and  to  increase  it 
largely  and  suddenly ;  and  for  one  I  do  not  object 
to  occasional  cramming,  since  it  is  an  experience 
not  without  practical  value.  But  the  all-around 
cramming  which  is  so  often  made  necessary  by 
continual  neglect  of  daily  duty  is  one  of  the 
most  disastrous  practices  imaginable.  It  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  were  better  not 
to  go  through  college  at  all  than  to  go  through 
in  this  way. 


80       The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

One  last  word  as  to  methods  :  do  not  let  your 
work  intrude  upon  the  hours  of  the  Sabbath.  If 
you  are  wise  you  will  keep  that  day  sacred  to  that 
"  other  life  "  which  every  man,  especially  every 
hard-working  man,  ought  to  recognize  and  culti- 
vate. Nothing  so  emphatically  marks  a  country 
as  Christian,  as  the  general  observance  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week  by  the  cessation  of  regular 
business  or  week-day  toil.  The  certainty  and 
frequency  and  regularity  of  the  recurrence  of  this 
day  of  total  rest  is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings 
in  modern  life  clearly  recognized  as  such  by  any 
well-constituted  society.  We  all  need  to  guard 
most  carefully  against  that  weakness  which  inev- 
itably follows  upon  unremitting  strain  ;  and  most 
of  us  ought  carefully  to  avoid  the  cramp  and 
narrowness  which  surely  come  from  being  en- 
grossed in  one  calling  or  in  any  one  line  of  work. 
The  Sabbath  should  always  bring  you  freedom 
and  enlargement.  If  you  desire  "  to  love  mercy, 
to  do  justly,  and  to  walk  humbly,"  —  and  better, 
saner,  or  more  wholesome  life  than  this,  no  man 
has  yet  known,  —  you  will  be  in  some  regular 
place  of  worship  for  at  least  one  service  of  the 
day  ;   "  for  two  reasons  —  first,  because  Christian- 


The  Fateful  First   Year  81 

ity  is  essentially  an  ethical  religion,  by  the  teach- 
ing  of  which  every  moral  being  may  profit  ;  and 
second,  because  it  is  an  unhappy  thing  for  a  man, 
a  member  of  the  social  organism,  to  withdraw 
himself  from  all  part  in  that  which,  according  to 
Socrates,  is  the  most  distinct  act  of  a  reasoning 
animal,  the  acknowledgment  of  the  great  com- 
mon source  of  all  existence,  of  all  reason,  and  of 
all  excellence."  The  rest  of  the  day  may  be 
spent  as  your  intelligence,  your  sympathies,  and 
your  conscience  may  permit.  It  is  a  good  day 
for  good  deeds  :  for  an  hour  with  the  sick,  for  a 
long  and  earnest  talk  with  a  friend,  for  a  quiet 
walk  abroad,  for  helpful  and  stimulating  inter- 
course with  those  older  than  yourself,  for  reading 
on  lines  for  which  the  work  of  the  week  gives 
you  neither  time  nor  inclination  — -  "  a  long  swim 
in  the  broad  sea  of  genial  human  sympathy,"  as 
some  one  has  put  it ;  for  a  letter  home  ;  for  some 
generous  gift  of  time  and  talent  in  behalf  of  fel- 
low-beings who  are  less  fortunate  than  yourself, 
whose  hopelessness  needs  your  courage,  whose 
ignorance  or  suffering  or  weakness  makes  a  right- 
ful and  strong  claim  upon  your  knowledge  or 
happiness  or  strength. 


82      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

In  this  matter  of  observing  the  Sabbath,  as  in 
all  your  college  work,  it  is  better  to  be  a  little 
too  serious  than  to  be  a  little  too  frivolous  ;  it  is 
better  to  hold  the  reins  a  little  too  tightly  than  to 
be  in  danger  of  letting  them  slip  through  your 
fingers,  or  of  not  holding  the  reins  at  all. 


Fraternities 

Fraternities,  or  Greek-letter  societies,  or 
secret  societies,  are  now  known  in  nearly  every 
college  in  this  country,  and  constitute  one  of  the 
most  important  factors  of  college  life.  The  resi- 
dent or  undergraduate  membership  of  each  varies 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  in  number.  The  older 
and  more  wealthy  of  these  organizations  own 
chapter-houses,  which  are  more  or  less  luxurious 
club-houses,  while  the  members  of  others  rent 
either  houses  or  rooms  for  common  occupancy. 

This  coming  together  of  young  men  of  similar 
tastes  and  purposes  is  entirely  natural,  and  is  to 
be  expected  in  the  college  as  it  is  in  society  at 
large.  Add  the  piquancy  of  secret  rites  and  cere- 
monies, and  the  comforts  of  a  home,  and  the 
attractions  to  fraternity  life  become  very  strong. 
A  young  man  who  promises  to  make  a  good  stu- 
dent record,  or  who  for  any  reason  seems  a  desir- 

83 


84      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

able  addition  to  the  charmed  circle,  finds  himself 
almost  at  once  among  friends,  and  establishes 
delightful  relations  which,  often,  perhaps  gener- 
ally, are  of  lifelong  duration.  When,  as  a  gradu- 
ate, he  occasionally  returns  to  his  alma  mater  or 
visits  another  college,  he  is  at  once  at  home  again, 
he  passes  readily  to  the  very  penetralia  of  college 
life,  he  is  easily  en  rapport  with  all  that  is  pass- 
ing ;  and  in  many  ways  he  has  a  decided  social 
advantage  over  fellow-graduates  who,  as  students, 
did  not  enjoy  the  comradeship  which  these  organ- 
izations offer  and  foster. 

Of  course,  there  is  another  side  to  all  this. 
There  are  fraternities,  and  fraternities.  The 
character  and  personnel  differ  from  year  to  year, 
and  in  different  institutions.  It  is  not  at  all  in- 
frequent that  a  fraternity  is  noted  in  one  college 
for  its  high  literary  standing,  in  another  for  social 
qualities  only  ;  in  one  college  holds  the  first  rank 
in  scholarship,  and  in  another  bears  scarcely  a 
passing  grade  ;  is  athletic  to  a  fault  here,  and 
disgustingly  effeminate  yonder.  So,  too,  it  is 
often  true  that  in  some  institutions  fraternities 
absolutely  change  front  with  passing  years  —  and 
sometimes  with  a  very  few  passing  years  at  that. 


Fraternities  85 

It  may  even  happen  that  a  man  may  find  him- 
self with  most  desirable  acquaintances  during  his 
freshman  year,  and  with  most  detrimental  associ- 
ates in  his  senior  year.  As  I  write  I  recall  a 
fraternity  in  one  of  our  most  renowned  colleges, 
which  in  a  very  few  years  passed  from  an  unus- 
ually high  moral  plane  to  such  depths  of  degra- 
dation and  degeneracy  that  its  chapter  was 
withdrawn  and  its  charter  broken  up  by  action 
of  its  own  national  council. 

It  is  almost  necessarily  true  that  membership 
in  a  fraternity  increases  the  expenses  of  college 
life,  and  at  least  tends  to  increase  these  unduly. 
While  alumni  are  very  liberal  and  generous  in 
contributing  toward  the  erection  and  equipment 
of  chapter-houses,  some  portion  of  this  falls  upon 
the  undergraduate,  and  nearly  all  the  expenses 
of  maintenance  must  come  out  of  his  pocket.  It 
is  not  easy  to  be  frugal  when  in  company  with 
others,  some  of  w^hose  resources  are  more  ample 
than  your  own  ;  and  "  spreads,"  and  receptions, 
and  "smokers'  do  not  grow  on  bushes,  to  be 
plucked  by  the  empty-handed.  So,  too,  there  is 
an  expenditure  of  time  —  sure  to  follow  the  social 
life  of  these  club-houses  —  which  it  is  almost  im- 


86      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

possible  wisely  to  limit  or  control.  Yet  many- 
students  of  highest  rank  have  been  most  loyal 
and  enthusiastic  fraternity  men. 

You  will  see,  therefore,  that  you  may  not  easily 
determine  your  wisest  course  in  this  matter. 
You  may  have  strength  of  character  and  stand- 
ing, or  you  may  have  some  inheritance  in  the 
college,  which  enables  you  to  choose  both  your 
time  of  joining  and  the  fraternity  with  which  you 
will  unite.  Or  it  may  be  that  only  one  society 
will  solicit  your  membership,  and  that  one  may 
say,  "Now  or  never."  As  to  this  latter  it  may 
be  said,  in  passing,  that  if  you  really  succeed  in 
your  work  and  show  marked  strength,  the  oppor- 
tunity to  join  will  quite  surely  be  offered  again  ; 
so  you  may  eliminate  all  anxiety  on  that  score. 
But  you  are  alone,  you  feel  the  need  of  advisers 
and  friends,  immediate  comradeship  means  much 
to  you,  and  you  appreciate  recognition  and  the 
distinction  of  being  sought.  Very  few  can  keep 
level  heads  and  cool  wits  in  the  midst  of  all 
the  excitement  and  blandishment  of  a  fraternity 
"  rush  "  ;  very  few  of  us  older  ones  can  do  this  in 
later  life,  when  something  of  the  same  conditions 
prevails. 


Fraternities  87 

The  very  wisest  course  which  you  can  pursue  in 
this  matter  is  to  refuse  absolutely  to  join  or  to 
pledge  yourself  or  to  commit  yourself  in  any  way 
during  the  first  half  year  ;  far  better,  if  your 
moral  stamina  will  stand  the  stress  and  strain, 
during  the  entire  first  year.  This  may  seem  like 
harsh  advice,  but  it  is  based  upon  more  than 
thirty  years  of  careful  and  extended  observation. 
It  is  not  easy  to  break  away  from  a  fraternity  if 
you  find  you  have  made  a  mistake,  and  once 
within  the  fraternity  it  is  not  easy  to  avoid  men 
who  may  be  anything  but  agreeable  or  helpful 
companions.  In  all  but  an  exceptionally  few 
cases  you  must  and  will  abide  by  your  choice, 
and  make  the  best  of  it.  You  are  to  be  more 
intimate  with  these  society  men  than  with  any 
others ;  an  intimacy  which  from  the  very  condi- 
tions of  fraternity  associations  has  a  direct  and 
peculiar  bearing  and  influence  upon  ail  your  after 
life.  A  man  is  always  known  by  the  company 
he  keeps,  and  you  are  to  keep  company  with  these 
men  for  at  least  four  of  the  most  important  years 
of  your  existence.  It  behooves  you,  therefore,  to 
make  your  choice  of  these  associates  with  extraor- 
dinary care. 


88      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

In  the  first  place,  all  the  conditions  of  disci- 
pline, mental  and  moral,  are  such  that  it  is  far 
better  for  you  to  undertake  the  work  of  this 
first  year  entirely  alone.  Self-reliance,  industry, 
fertility  of  resource,  perception,  tact  and  shrewd- 
ness, adaptability  :  these  and  other  similarly 
desirable  qualities  and  characteristics  are  devel- 
oped from  within,  though  by  outward  stress  and 
strain,  and  are  jeopardized  and  weakened,  if  not 
entirely  lost,  when  one  may  all  too  readily  turn 
to  others  for  counsel,  encouragement,  and  strength. 
One  of  your  first  and  most  important  lessons  is 
that  of  fighting  your  own  battles  —  and  you  will 
scarcely  learn  this  if  you  have  a  body-guard  con- 
tinually at  your  heels.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  being  coddled  by  a  fraternity,  and  it  is  just 
as  detrimental  as  any  other  form  of  coddling. 
Responsibility  is  one  of  the  most  successful  edu- 
cators, though  often  a  hard  taskmaster ;  and  it 
is  not  well  to  be  so  situated  that  you  may  shirk 
responsibility  if   you  chance    to  feel  so  inclined. 

Another  decided  gain  is  found  in  waiting  :  the 
opportunity  to  secure  more  complete  information 
as  to  the  local  status.  What  manner  of  men  are 
those  who  form  this  fraternity  ?     What   is  their 


Fraternities  89 

rank  and  standing  in  college?  What  is  the  life 
of  present  undergraduate  membership,  and  in 
what  way  are  these  men  felt  in  the  college 
world?  What  have  graduate  members  accom- 
plished after  leaving  college  ?  What  is  the 
general  attitude  of  college  officers  toward  fra- 
ternities, and  why  ?  What  has  been  the  history 
of  fraternities  in  this  institution  ?  Who  are  the 
great  and  notable  men  whose  names  appear  on 
the  rolls  of  the  fraternity  annual  ?  All  these 
are  questions  to  which  you  ought  to  secure  defi- 
nite and  satisfactory  replies  before  you  move 
forward.  Members  of  other  fraternities  cannot 
give  you  this  information,  even  if  you  are  so 
situated  as  to  be  able  to  ask  them.  Non-frater- 
nity men  cannot  give  it.  You  must  answer  your 
own  questions,  and  you  must  take  time  in  which 
to  answer  them  wisely  and  well.  You  surely  can 
lose  nothing  by  waiting  a  year,  and  there  is  at 
least  a  chance  that  you  will  gain  much.  If  these 
men  are  worthy  of  your  friendship  and  you  are 
worthy  of  theirs,  this  will  come  out  all  the  more 
clearly  as  the  year  passes.  If  the  converse  is 
true,  you  escape  even  more  than  you  will  gain 
if  the  final  decision  is  favorable. 


90      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

If  you  wait  a  year,  what  then  ?  Of  course,  the 
ideal  condition  would  be  to  have  the  college 
world  an  absolute  unit,  knowing  nothing  of 
cliques  or  factions  or  divisions  of  any  sort,  rec- 
ognizing community  of  interest  in  all  things, 
each  sharing  in  common  prosperity  because  con- 
tributing to  it,  each  solicitous  as  to  the  welfare 
of  the  other,  each  member  of  this  democratic 
community  a  direct  and  positive  blessing  to  each 
other  member.  But  it  happens  that  the  world 
is  all  and  quite  otherwise  ;  Christian  nations 
contend  with  pagan  and  with  each  other  as  well ; 
there  is  strife  of  creeds  in  the  churches,  and  of 
parties  in  the  political  world  ;  class  makes  war 
upon  class  in  social  life,  and  distinctions  of  rank 
or  wealth  or  association  are  everywhere  mani- 
fest—  and  the  college  is  in  the  world  and  of  the 
world.  It  is  no  indolent  optimism,  therefore, 
which  as  to  your  final  decision  bids  you  accept 
the  fraternity,  if  you  are  so  inclined  after  this 
year  of  careful  observation,  and  make  the  best 
of  it. 

In  an  earlier  paragraph  of  this  chapter  I  have 
indicated  briefly  what  "the  best  of  it"  may 
mean.     There  are  both  opportunity  and  responsi- 


Fraternities  91 

bility,  and  from  a  proper  recognition  of  each 
may  come  yery  desirable  results.  It  is  no  small 
thing  that  you  have  something  to  say  as  to  the 
general  policy  or  as  to  the  details  of  its  execu- 
tion, that  you  are  charged  with  some  special 
duties  in  this  common  life,  that  you  have  your 
share  of  the  burden  to  carry,  even  that  you  must 
pay  your  share  of  the  common  expenses  (I  have 
always  admired  the  pluck  with  which  some  men 
refuse  to  use  any  part  of  their  usual  allowance 
for  these  extra  expenses,  but  in  some  way,  either 
in  vacations  or  during  leisure  hours,  earn  the 
necessary  money  by  special  effort).  To  get  the 
full  benefit  of  these  associations,  you  ought  to 
take  fraternity  life  far  more  seriously  than  some 
men  take  it  to-day.  There  should  always  be  a 
very  definite  purpose  to  make  this  pay  the  largest 
possible  returns  upon  your  investment  of  time 
and  money.  With  generous  rivalry,  you  should 
insist  that  your  associates  make  every  effort  to 
keep  well  at  the  front  in  the  class  room,  on  the 
athletic  field,  and  in  all  student  undertakings. 
You  should  study  carefully  to  make  your  fra- 
ternity one  of  the  very  best  in  the  country,  your 
chapter  the  leader  of  the  fraternity.     Under  your 


92      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

guidance  it  should  become  and  remain  a  model 
organization.  In  all  this  you  must  give  freely 
of  your  time  and  talents ;  but  the  returns  are 
immediate  and  large.  The  experience  in  execu- 
tive work,  the  record  in  successful  administra- 
tion, the  development  of  power  and  capacity  on 
your  own  part  —  all  this  is  exceedingly  valuable. 
I  know  of  more  than  one  man  high  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation  to-day  whose  training  in  the 
councils  of  his  fraternity  laid  the  foundations  for 
his  present  success,  more  than  one  whose  brill- 
iant conduct  of  business  affairs  began  in  his 
college  days  —  men  whose  practice  then  gave 
them  the  suppleness  and  ease  and  confidence  of 
present  movement.  Take  fraternity  life  seri- 
ously, then,  that  you  may  secure  from  it  the  very 
best  results,  the  very  highest  rewards. 

On  the  other  hand,  do  not  take  it  too  seriously, 
as  some  college  men  take  it.  It  is  not  the  only 
factor  in  college  life,  nor  is  it  the  most  important. 
There  are  other  fraternities,  and  other  fraternity 
men.  Wisdom  will  not  die  with  you  fellows ; 
nor  is  it  a  lasting  disgrace  to  be  distanced  by  a 
man  who  does  not  wear  a  pin  like  your  own. 
Much  that  is  noteworthy  in  this  world  has  been 


Fraternities  93 

accomplished  by  men  who  wore  no  Greek  pins  at 
all.  You  should  have  such  a  sense  of  perspec- 
tive that  all  these  things  appear  in  proper  and 
true  proportions.  You  should  never  permit  the 
organization  to  overshadow  or  dwarf  the  individ- 
ual, which  is  the  constantly  threatening  evil  of  all 
organization.  You  should  have  many  acquaint- 
ances, and  at  least  a  few  friends,  entirely  outside 
of  your  fraternity  circle.  No  rivalry  between 
fraternities  should  ever  become  so  fierce  as  to  lead 
you  to  consent  to  any  trickery,  chicanery,  or 
fraud  ;  or  to  make  you  part  company  with  tried 
companions  and  friends.  Self-control  and  a  gen- 
erous interpretation  of  the  motives  and  actions  of 
others  are  exceedingly  desirable  in  this  world, 
and  your  fraternity  relations  should  do  much  to 
develop  and  establish  both.  But  this  will  be 
impossible  if  you  make  mountains  out  of  mole- 
hills, if  fraternity  politics  become  more  important 
than  national  issues,  and  your  personal  success  in 
some  college  campaign  is  of  more  absorbing  inter- 
est than  civic  righteousness.  Because  of  an  old- 
time  interfraternity  quarrel,  two  large-minded, 
warm-hearted,  wonderfully  efficient  men  have 
wasted  their  time  and  strength  for  years  in  a  per- 


94       The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

sonal  feud,  which  at  times  has  seriously  affected 
the  interests  and  marred  the  success  of  more  than 
one  really  great  undertaking.  Nothing  could  be 
more  pitiful  or  absurd  or  more  pitifully  absurd 
than  this.  This  is  an  excellent  example  of  what 
I  mean  by  taking  your  fraternity  relations  too 
seriously. 

All  at  it  and  all  the  time  at  it  wins,  surely. 
But  not  every  undertaking  is  worth  all  your  time 
and  all  your  strength.  Certainly  your  fraternity 
will  not  be  worth  this.  You  are  to  get  from  it 
all  you  can  ;  but  you  cannot  possibly  get  from  it 
all  that  you  need.  Your  first  duty  is  always  to 
your  college  work  ;  your  greatest  opportunity  is 
that  which  the  college  itself  presents  ;  the  great- 
est drafts  upon  your  time  and  strength  must 
always  be  in  these  directions.  But  there  is  an 
unconscious  education  received  by  all  who  are 
open  to  the  influences  about  them  —  and  in  this 
unconscious  education  the  close  relations  of  your 
fraternity  will  play  an  important  part.  Compan- 
ionship has  a  great  influence  upon  our  lives.  The 
educational  effect  of  daily  intercourse  can  hardly 
be  overstated.  "  He  that  walketh  with  wise  men 
shall  be  wise,  but  a  companion  of  fools  shall  be 


Fraternities  95 

destroyed."  Few  men  are  strong  enough  to 
resist  the  demoralizing  influence  of  evil  associates. 
But  the  converse  of  all  this  is  true ;  and  every 
man  knows  that  not  only  his  pleasure  but  much 
of  his  success  depends  upon  his  choice  of  friends. 
With  all  this  before  you,  be  sure  to  make  a  wise 
choice  of  friends  ;  be  sure  that  they  are  worthy  to 
enter  into  your  own  life,  to  share  your  confidence 
and  esteem. 

Because  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  you  to  make 
this  wise  choice  and  to  determine  this  worthiness 
at  the  very  opening  of  your  college  career,  you  are 
advised  to  wait  at  least  a  half  year  before  estab- 
lishing any  such  hard  and  fast  relations  as  those 
of  the  Greek-letter  societies. 


VI 

Athletics 

With  entrance  examinations  safely  and  cred- 
itably passed,  the  course  selected,  and  what  may 
be  called  domestic  and  social  relations  fairly  es- 
tablished, the  student  turns  naturally  enough  to 
other  relations,  which  may  stand  as  the  by- 
products of  education.  This  does  not  mean  that 
they  are  not  quite  as  important  as  any  other  rela- 
tions or  activities,  that  they  are  to  be  considered 
as  entirely  of  secondary  importance  in  the  usual 
meaning  of  that  phrase,  rather  only  that  they  are 
not  the  first  to  receive  consideration. 

Now  that  the  last  sentence  is  written,  it  seems 
not  quite  true  after  all  —  at  least,  not  quite  true 
just  at  present  —  concerning  athletics.  Many  a 
lad  determines  his  college  to-day  by  its  athletic 
record,  and  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  suc- 
cess on  the  field  or  on  the  track  or  in  the  gymna- 
sium has  much  to  do  with  the  personnel  of  every 

96 


Athletics  97 

freshman  class.  This  is  true  from  two  points  of 
view  :  many  a  man  choosing  his  college  because 
of  the  pleasure  and  pride  which  he  expects  to  feel 
in  the  succession  of  athletic  victories  (conversely, 
"  I  do  not  care  to  tie  up  with  a  college  which 
gets  licked  every  time,"  said  a  sub-freshman 
recently) ;  and  the  older  men  in  not  a  few  col- 
leges reaching  out  after  fellows  who  have  made 
something  of  a  record  while  in  the  academy  or 
preparatory  school.  If,  therefore,  you  have  to 
your  credit  an  extra  high  jump,  or  a  fine  cross- 
country run,  or  a  good  pitching  curve,  or  a  few 
successful  kicks  to  goal,  you  have  heard  already 
from  at  least  one  college,  even  if  you  have  not 
been  importuned  by  several. 

The  craving  for  physical  exercise  is  wholly  nat- 
ural and  exceedingly  wholesome,  and  should  be 
intelligently  satisfied.  The  constant  bodily  activ- 
ity of  babies  and  of  very  young  children  is  the 
result  of  a  most  admirable  provision  for  their 
well-being.  These  movements  come  under  more 
control  as  years  increase,  and  when  middle  life  is 
reached  are  only  too  apt  to  be  entirely  subordi- 
nated to  intellectual  activity  and  perhaps  even 
lost  by  reason  of  continued  sedentary  occupation. 


98      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

That  this  loss  is  a  serious  one,  never  made  good 
by  the  supposed  gain  in  time,  and  that  it  is  a 
positive  menace  to  all  forms  of  activity,  even  to 
life  itself,  we  are  just  coming  to  understand. 
Our  first  cousins,  the  English,  have  always  been 
wiser  than  ourselves  in  these  matters  —  a  wisdom 
which  has  resulted  in  an  unusual  prolongation  of 
physical  powers  and  in  a  very  remarkable  conser- 
vation of  mental  strength  and  activity  —  and  we 
are  now  fairly  committed  to  a  like  policy.  The 
increasing  interest  in  all  forms  of  outdoor  life  and 
sport,  and  especially  in  everything  in  which  men 
and  women  in  middle  life  —  even  in  later  life  — 
may  participate,  is  full  of  hope  and  promise  for 
the  second  century  of  this  nation.  The  Saturday 
half-holiday,  made  almost  universal,  is  proof  of  the 
fact  that  the  shrewdest  business  men  have  come 
to  understand  that  good  work  and  good  play  go 
together,  and  that  the  latter  is  practically  insep- 
arable from  the  former.  It  is  a  great  pity  that 
the  administrative  officers  of  some  institutions 
of  learning  are  not  blessed  with  the  same  wisdom, 
the  same  common  sense,  in  these  matters. 

There  is  a  greater  need  of  a  sound  body  and  of 
the  outdoor  life  which  will  keep   it  sound,  than 


Athletics  99 

ever  before,  because  men  and  women  are  con* 
stantly  undergoing  greater  stress  and  strain.  It 
may  be  true,  in  a  certain  rather  limited  sense, 
that  it  is  not  more  difficult  to  close  successfully  a 
business  transaction  in  millions  than  in  tens  of 
thousands,  when  we  have  once  accustomed  our- 
selves to  think  in  millions ;  but  it  is  also  true  that 
to  think  in  millions  the  bow  must  be  strung  much 
more  taut,  must  be  drawn  more  often,  and  kept 
ready  for  use  more  continually,  and  almost  never 
springs  back  quite  straight  when  the  string  is 
loosened.  Moreover,  the  mind  which  succeeds 
in  mastering  the  conditions  and  problems  of  to- 
day must  be  a  large  mind,  a  world  mind,  with 
firmer  grasp,  with  keener  insight,  with  more  alert 
perceptions,  with  greater  tenacity  of  purpose  yet 
greater  shiftiness  —  adjustability,  flexibility,  fer- 
tility of  resources  —  than  the  general  or  average 
mind  of  the  past ;  and  this  means  a  very  positive 
and  imperative  demand  for  better  digestion, 
steadier  nerves,  deeper  breathing,  and  greater 
general  bodily  health  and  strength.  Very  signif- 
icant is  the  question  now  almost  invariably  asked 
concerning  any  applicant  for  any  position,  "  Has 
he   any   physical   weakness   or   defect  ?  "  —  since, 


100      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

with  exceedingly  rare  exceptions,  a  person  with 
any  physical  weakness  or  defect  simply  cannot 
endure  the  strain  and  satisfactorily  meet  the 
demands  of  the  modern  business  or  professional 
world.  Both  as  a  hard  student  —  and  I  hope  you 
are  to  be  one  —  and  as  a  successful  man  after 
graduation,  your  brain  will  demand  a  very  large 
supply  of  rich  blood  —  that  red  blood  which  is 
worth  so  much  more  than  any  "  blue  blood "  on 
earth! — and  you  can  only  secure  this  by  a  full 
and  free  and  helpful  play  of  all  organic  life. 

All  this  is  so  true,  and  a  sound  body  is  so 
necessary,  that  I  hope  you  will  not  enroll  in  a 
college  which  has  not  a  well-equipped  gymnasium 
under  the  control  of  a  thoroughly  competent  and 
expert  director.  If  the  college  toward  which 
under  any  influence  whatever  you  are  turning  or 
are  being  turned  is  not  thus  equipped,  it  is  due 
to  one  or  more  of  several  reasons,  any  one  of 
which  may  well  cause  you  to  pause  and  to  con- 
sider carefully  your  decision.  Either  the  presi- 
dent is  not  large  enough  or  modern  enough 
to  appreciate  the  desirability  and  the  necessity 
of  physical  education  —  in  which  case  he  is  an 
incompetent     executive ;     or     the     members     of 


Athletics  /1-01 

the  faculty  are  narrow  and  selfish  and  prevent 
expenditures  in  this  direction  —  which  simply 
determines  that  they  cannot  render  any  very 
acceptable  or  helpful  service  to  youth ;  or  the 
alumni  and  friends  of  the  institution  either  can- 
not or  do  not  furnish  sufficient  resources  for  the 
maintenance  of  such  work  —  which  is  a  reason- 
ably sure  warning  that  the  college  is  financially 
weak  and  ill  equipped  on  all  lines  of  work,  and 
does  not  retain  the  lively  interest  and  abiding 
confidence  of  its  graduates.  You  ought  not  to 
be  connected  with  such  an  institution,  from  the 
standpoint  of  either  your  well-being  or  your 
pride. 

If  work  in  the  gymnasium  is  optional,  —  it 
ought  to  be  required,  at  least  during  the  first  two 
years  of  residence,  —  present  yourself  to  the  direc- 
tor at  the  earliest  moment  possible,  ask  for  a 
complete  physical  examination  with  its  accom- 
panying chart  or  detailed  report,  and  enroll  for 
regular  class  work.  It  should  be  understood 
that  this  work  is  to  prepare  you  for  games  and 
other  outdoor  exercise,  or  is  to  take  the  place  of 
these  during  the  winter  or  in  bad  weather  ;  but 
you  should  never  permit  this  to  supplant  outdoor 


1Q2     The  College  -Student  and  His  Problems 

life.  ; Gymnastics,  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  com- 
plete  substitute  for  the  more  natural  and  usual 
forms  of  exercise  ;  nor  can  they  ever  take  the 
place  of  the  hearty,  wholesome,  normal  interest 
aroused  by  competitive  sports.  But  class  train- 
ing and  discipline  are  very  essential  to  all-round 
development,  and  often  work  wonderful  cures  of 
special  weaknesses  or  make  good  hitherto  unsus- 
pected defects.  Moreover,  all  special  work  and 
service,  such  as  is  involved  in  holding  a  place  on 
any  of  the  college  teams  or  in  any  undertaking 
to  lower  individual  records,  make  such  a  serious 
demand  upon  all  bodily  powers  that  great  care  is 
necessary  to  prevent  permanent  injury.  Briefly, 
if  you  are  not  much  of  an  athlete  you  certainly 
need  the  gymnasium  ;  if  you  are  an  athlete  of 
high  repute,  an  entirely  proper  and  even  laudable 
ambition,  you  need  the  gymnasium  even  more. 

I  have  warned  you  against  a  college  which  has 
no  definite  course  in  physical  education  ;  now  I 
urge  you  to  beware  of  an  institution  which  is  so 
one-sided  as  to  take  interest  in  athletics  in  but 
one  direction.  Students  have  a  very  incomplete 
and  inadequate  idea  of  sport  if  they  fancy  it  is  a 
scheme  in  which  nine  or  eleven   men  do  all  the 


Athletics  103 

work,  and  the  rest  of  the  student  world  looks  on. 
In  fact,  one  of  the  most  serious  charges  which  can 
be  brought  against  athletics  is  the  amount  of 
time,  the  aggregate  hours,  wasted  and  worse  than 
wasted  in  simply  looking  on  during  the  game,  or 
in  talking  about  it  either  before  or  after  it  is 
played.  The  atmosphere  of  a  college  in  which 
such  athletics  prevail  is  anything  but  helpful  or 
stimulating.  The  field  of  sports  is  wide,  and  the 
ways  of  securing  outdoor  life  and  exercise  are 
varied.  One  man  has  not  the  time  in  which 
to  excel  in  all  or  even  in  many,  and  many  men 
cannot  hope  for  preeminence  in  any  ;  but  active 
personal  and  direct  participation  should  be  as 
general  and  widespread  as  possible.  Football, 
tennis,  baseball,  golf,  lacrosse,  rowing,  all  forms 
of  track  work,  cycling,  cross-country  runs,  basket- 
ball—  these,  and  more,  surely  give  large  oppor- 
tunity and  incentive.  If  for  any  reason  you  may 
not  take  part  in  any  of  these,  there  is  still  left 
that  best  of  all  simple  exercise  —  walking. 
Nothing  has  ever  been  discovered  or  invented  or 
proposed  which  quite  equals  this,  for  all  forms  of 
student  life.  It  is  a  sufficient  exercise,  it  is  in- 
expensive,  it   requires    little   or    no   preliminary 


104      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

training  and  practically  no  special  equipment, 
and  it  can  be  taken  at  any  odd  moments  of  the 
day.  Not  that  you  should  be  content  with  odd 
moments,  if  you  can  possibly  give  more  time  ; 
but  the  odd  moments  are  far  better  than  nothing. 
Four  miles  a  day  in  the  aggregate,  made  up  of 
the  routes  covered  from  your  rooms  to  your 
boarding  house  and  return,  and  the  regular 
movement  to  class  room  and  laboratories  three 
times  each  day,  are  better  than  nothing  ;  but  by 
no  means  equal  four  continuous  miles  of  brisk 
walk  in  (say)  a  single  hour.  It  is  true  that  there 
is  some  loss  of  time  —  you  could  make  the  four 
miles  much  more  quickly  on  your  wheel ;  but  the 
loss  is  far  more  than  equalled  by  the  gain  which 
comes  from  a  longer  stay  in  the  open  air.  It  is 
the  open  air  which  refreshes,  stimulates,  and  re- 
builds, after  all,  though  movement  undoubtedly 
adds  to  the  benefits  received.  Not  much  is 
gained  by  a  mere  stroll  or  saunter,  there  is  not 
enough  exercise  in  this  ;  but  this  is  better  than 
nothing,  is  better  even  than  exclusive  gymnasium 
work.  There  is  a  certain  college  in  which  there 
was  once  a  student  song,  the  chorus  of  which 
ran :  — 


Athletics  105 

"  O  walking  is  good  exercise,  good  exercise,  good  exercise, 
O  walking  is  good  exercise,  for 
Prexy  tells  us  so !  " 

Whether  the  students  still  join  heartily  m  the 
chorus  as  of  old,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  advancing 
years  have  not  changed  "  Prexy's  '    opinion. 

You  should  always  keep  in  mind  the  true  end 
of  all  athletics,  which  is  a  proper  combination 
of  recreation  and  physical  exercise.  Everything 
else  is  entirely  incidental  and  should  be  regarded 
as  of  wholly  secondary  importance  —  even  if  tol- 
erated at  all.  It  seems  quite  impossible  for 
some  people  to  distinguish  between  athletics 
proper  and  standing  around  and  gossiping  about 
the  players  and  the  games,  and  betting  on  the 
results  ;  and  many  students  who  never  do  any- 
thing except  look  on,  gossip,  and  bet,  will  talk 
most  loudly  about  their  interest  in  outdoor 
sports.  Yet  the  general  and  hearty  interest  of 
the  entire  college  world  in  the  success  of  its 
representatives  is  natural  and  helpful,  and  ought 
to  be  encouraged  in  every  proper  way  and  in 
every  lawful  manifestation.  One  of  the  most 
delightful  and  favorable  results  of  all  athletics 
is  the  stimulus  which    they  give   to    social    rela- 


106     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

tions.  The  close  personal  contact  between  the 
men  on  the  teams,  and  the  sense  of  mutual  de- 
pendence created  by  and  through  team  work  ; 
the  newly  awakened  institutional  pride,  or  the 
large  increase  of  this  by  reason  of  intercollegi- 
ate contests ;  the  necessary  democracy  of  the 
field,  and  of  the  crowds  in  attendance  —  all 
these  establish  and  maintain  a  social  status 
which  is  in  every  way  desirable  and  helpful. 
You  ought  to  play  your  part  in  all  this,  in  order 
that  you  may  receive  your  share  of  the  benefits. 
Nothing  will  bring  you  more  quickly  in  touch  with 
your  fellow-students  than  will  this.  It  is  one 
of  the  ways  in  which  you  can  show  your  inter- 
est in  communal  affairs,  your  willingness  to  give 
of  your  time  and  strength,  at  least,  to  advance 
the  common  interests  and  the  general  welfare. 
You  ought  to  do  this  "for  the  good  of  the 
cause,"  for  the  stimulus  which  you  will  receive 
from  such  active  and  intelligent  participation, 
and  you  need  not  hesitate  to  do  it  because  one 
of  its  results  will  surely  be  that  you  will  be 
known  and  remembered  as  a  "good  fellow."  If 
you  enter  upon  any  scheme  of  life  simply  be- 
cause of  the  possible   benefits  to  be  received   by 


Athletics  107 

yourself,  you  may  be  sure  that  sooner  or-  later 
—  generally  sooner  than  later  —  your  selfishness 
will  become  apparent,  and  will  be  the  fly  in  the 
ointment.  But  that  need  not  cause  you  to 
forego  the  natural  and  inevitable  and  pleasur- 
able results  of  a  hearty  manifestation  of  true 
public  spirit.  This  is  needed  in  the  college 
world  quite  as  much  as  in  the  world  at  large, 
and  its  exercise  and  development  during  the 
years  of  student  life  form  a  most  excellent  prep- 
aration for  the  larger  life  to  come.  I  have 
rarely  known  a  man  who  had  made  a  favorable 
impression  upon  his  college  in  this  respect,  to  fail 
of  almost  immediate  and  helpful  recognition  when 
he  entered  the  outer  world.  Conversely,  I  have 
almost  never  known  a  man  to  secure  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  his  fellows  after  leaving  college,  if 
he  had  not  won  the  esteem  and  regard  of  his 
college  mates  during  his  student  life.  Athletics 
furnish  one  of  the  very  best  means  for  the  develop- 
ment and  manifestation  of  true  social  instincts. 

Nor  are  many  of  the  finer  individual  charac- 
teristics without  very  definite  stimulus.  It  may 
be  that  bravery  is  a  matter  of  instinct,  and  de- 
pends   largely   upon    natural    temperament;    but 


108     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

courage,  fortitude,  and  resolution  are  capable  of 
development  and  training.  One  of  the  very 
best  results  of  all  physical  education  is  this, 
that  it  kills  fear.  The  man  who  knows  little 
or  nothing  of  his  physical  powers  and  possibili- 
ties is  always  timid.  Not  until  he  finds  out 
that  after  all  it  does  not  hurt  so  very  much 
to  get  hurt,  not  until  he  has  his  nerves  and 
muscles  under  full  control,  will  he  face  danger 
and  possible  suffering  without  flinching.  Within 
the  circle  of  athletics  are  experiences  which 
give  a  man  that  courage  which  is  serviceable 
at  all  times  and  under  all  conditions,  —  a  cour- 
age which  may  almost  rise  to  the  heights  of 
valor,  and  which  will  surely  reach  that  height  in 
later  life  and  in  larger  matters  ;  resolution, 
which  persistently  holds  the  ground  that  has 
been  intelligently  chosen  ;  fortitude,  which  en- 
dures calmly  whatever  pain  may  result  from  any 
given  action.  All  these  are  worth  much  to  the 
man  in  the  struggles  of  the  commercial  or  pro- 
fessional world,  and  some  of  the  very  best  tim- 
ber has  been  fashioned  in  this  way.  It  was 
Wellington  who  said  that  Waterloo  was  won  on 
the  athletic  fields  of  English  schools. 


Athletics  109 

Not  only  is  courage  promoted  by  outdoor 
sports,  but  self-control  comes  to  be  almost  second 
nature.  No  quality  is  more  necessary  or  helpful, 
and  with  many  men  nothing  is  more  difficult  to 
acquire.  Yet,  in  any  undertaking,  the  man  who 
is  easily  rattled,  who  cannot  keep  his  head,  who 
is  not  ready  to  meet  an  emergency,  who  is  not 
fertile  in  resources  —  this  man  is  sure  to  fail. 
No  training  is  more  helpful  in  this  matter  than 
that  received  in  athletics.  A  man  whose  tem- 
per flares  up,  hot  and  consuming,  either  upon 
slight  pretext  or  under  great  provocation,  can- 
not be  trusted  on  any  team.  Just  when  he 
needs  to  be  most  cool  and  reserved  he  is  sure 
to  play  wild  and  lose  the  day.  In  personal  re- 
lations, in  team  work,  in  the  stress  and  strain 
of  the  game  itself,  it  is  imperative  that  a  man 
should  keep  cool.  He  must  see  clearly,  hear 
accurately,  determine  quickly,  and,  coordinating 
all  his  senses  and  powers  —  act  instantly.  Mind 
and  body,  muscle  and  nerve,  must  be  well  in 
hand  —  capable  of  immediate  and  efficient  re- 
sponse to  any  demand.  The  responsibility  is 
often  great,  the  contest  always  hot,  the  strain 
is  ever  severe  ;    and  under  these  conditions  men 


110      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

are  wrought  out  as  with  forge  and  hammer  and 
anvil.  Intelligent  interest  in  sport,  loyalty  to 
the  institution  and  to  one's  fellows,  lawful  am- 
bition for  success  and  even  for  personal  pre- 
eminence, —  all  these  make  men  willing  to 
undergo  discipline  which  would  otherwise  seem 
impossible.  Yet  only  by  such  training  may  men 
hope  for  the  highest  forms  of  self-control. 

Nor  is  it  any  small  gain  that  you  are  also 
taught  to  be  unselfish  and  fair.  I  am  not  ad- 
vocating athletics  as  the  richest  garden  for  the 
growth  of  all  the  Christian  virtues  ;  but  there 
is  great  productive  power  in  its  soil  and  warmth. 
The  success  of  the  team  becomes  more  desirable 
than  the  success  of  any  individual  member  of  it. 
Many  a  man  willingly  abandons  a  desirable 
place  because  a  better  man  has  been  developed 
or  has  been  found.  Often  a  man  is  called  to 
play  in  a  comparatively  inferior  position  where 
there  is  little  or  no  chance  to  make  a  brilliant 
record.  The  honor  of  the  college  is  placed  be- 
fore the  honoring  of  any  student,  and  this  is 
gladly  accepted  by  all.  Peculiarly  unselfish  are 
the  second  nines  or  teams,  the  men  who  put 
themselves  on  the    rack,  in    every  sense   of    the 


Athletics  111 

word,  and  publicly  acknowledge  their  inferi- 
ority, day  after  day,  in  order  that  better  men 
may  become  still  more  efficient  by  practising 
with  and  upon  these  "  seconds,"  and  that  men 
already  well  known  and  popular  may  become 
still  more  famous  and  acceptable.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  better  illustration  of  self- 
abnegation,  even  though  due  credit  is  given  for 
a  desire  to  win  a  place  among  the  firsts  for  next 
year.  As  to  fairness,  admitting  all  the  faults 
of  college  sports,  and  the  justness  of  much  ad- 
verse criticism,  it  certainly  remains  true  that 
the  average  American  boy  plays  fair,  discourages 
any  other  course,  and  would  rather  lose  a  game 
than  win  by  foul  means.  You  will  find  gener- 
ally that  trickery  is  not  countenanced  in  college, 
that  a  very  sane  and  wholesome  moral  senti- 
ment obtains  in  the  long  run,  and  that  there  is 
an  increasing  determination  that  a  man  shall 
play  like  a  gentleman,  play  he  to  win  or  to 
lose. 

All  this  tends  strongly  to  advance  good  fellow- 
ship, comradeship  —  with  all  its  attending  en- 
joyments and  very  positive  benefits.  "  For  he 
to-day  that  sheds   his    blood  with    me,  shall    be 


112      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

my  brother,"  said  Shakespeare's  favorite  prince 
and  king  ;  and  the  men  who  have  served  their 
college  and  their  fellow-students  on  many  a 
hard-fought  field  will  not  soon  forget  each 
other.  The  distinction  between  them,  if  any 
exists,  becomes  one  of  sheer  merit,  clearly  and 
universally  recognized.  All  that  is  fortuitous 
disappears.  There  is  a  very  strict  application  of 
the  motto  "  from  each  according  to  his  ability, 
to  each  according  to  his  deserts."  Men  who 
work  together  in  this  spirit,  who  share  each 
other's  failures  and  successes,  who  endure  hard- 
ship in  a  common  cause,  and  who  have  become 
brave,  unselfish,  and  fair,  come  into  a  compan- 
ionship hardly  known  elsewhere,  unless  it  be  in 
the  army,  or  in  mission  work  in  foreign  fields, 
or  possibly  in  unusually  close  relationship  in 
great  and  long-continued  commercial  undertak- 
ings. Even  the  men  who  enjoy  outdoor  life 
together  in  a  much  quieter  way  come  to  recog- 
nize in  nature  a  common  loving  mother,  and  so 
are  drawn  close  to  each  other.  I  hope  you  will 
not  permit  any  less  worthy  way  of  passing  time 
to  cause  you  to  lose  those  delightful  friendships, 
many  of  which  are  of  lifelong  duration. 


Athletics  113 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  understand  how  a 
fellow  can  experience  all  this  and  continue 
pessimistic,  crabbed,  morbid.  For  some  reason, 
as  yet  not  well  understood,  there  is  a  tendency 
toward  these  characteristics  among  students, 
especially  among  those  who  are  in  the  first  two 
callow  years.  They  do  not  quite  reach  the  point 
where  they  "  distrust  all  men  and  despise  all 
women,"  but  the  world  is  very  hollow  and  false 
to  them,  and  there  are  apples  of  Sodom  every- 
where. Sometimes  this  morbidness  goes  no  far- 
ther than  a  general  withdrawal  from  college 
life,  an  unnatural  seclusiveness,  possibly  a  blind 
devotion  to  texts  and  to  marks.  Now  a  fellow 
who  keeps  no  other  company  than  himself  is 
not  in  the  best  of  company,  to  say  the  least, 
and  by  his  isolation  he  fails  of  a  large  half  of 
his  education.  To  all  such  men,  interest  in  ath- 
letics is  peculiarly  valuable.  The  fresh  air 
blows  the  cobwebs  out  of  the  corners  of  their 
brains,  the  sunlight  sweetens  them,  and  physical 
activity  stirs  their  blood  and  quickens  all  their 
processes  of  assimilation  —  there  is  more  spirit- 
ual misery  and  original  sin  in  imperfect  diges- 
tion   than    in    most    human    hearts.     Like     Saul 


114     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

of  old,  they  come  out  of  the  "  stuff,"  finally,  and 
sometimes  in  the  end  they  stand  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  their  fellows. 

To  all  this,  I  think,  should  be  added  the  pure 
joy  of  success  ;  of  victory  honorably  won,  and 
generally  won  in  the  open,  before  all  men  (and  be- 
fore some  women),  and  immediately  crowned  with 
hearty  and  even  vociferous  approval  and  applause. 
That  successful  home  run  ;  that  wonderful  exhi- 
bition of  batting,  with  three  men  on  bases  ;  that 
swift  upward  leap  and  sure  catch,  which  saved 
the  day ;  that  sudden  burst  through  the  line, 
or  the  long  run  around  the  end  and  down  the 
field  to  goal  with  the  pigskin  safe  under  your 
arm  ;  that  magnificent  spurt  at  the  end  of  the 
dash  ;  that  answer  to  coach  and  cockswain  which 
sent  the  shell  well  to  the  front  ;  these,  and  more, 
under  rare  skies,  with  flags  waving  and  students 
marching  and  singing  and  cheering,  and  the 
great,  indulgent,  and  warm-hearted  public  trying 
hard  to  understand  it  all  and  expressing  its 
pleasure  and  excitement  in  a  most  inspiring 
way  ;  and  more  than  all  and  best  of  all  (you 
are  not  half  a  man  otherwise)  the  "  dearest 
girl    in    the    world '     (for    the    time    being    at 


Athletics  115 

least)  standing  on  tiptoe,  with  sparkling  eyes 
and  flying  tresses  and  fluttering  ribbons,  add- 
ing her  applause  to  all  that  which  is  thunder- 
ing in  your  ears  —  these  are  moments  which  are 
worth  living  for,  which  give  positive  inspi- 
ration to  greater  endeavor  in  more  important 
fields,  which  are  never  forgotten.  May  you 
have  many  of  them,  and  be  the  better  man  for 
them  all. 

There  is  no  better  nor  finer  example  of  all 
that  I  have  written  than  that  given  by  the 
President  of  these  United  States.  President 
Roosevelt  was  a  weakly  boy  (but  not  effeminate), 
and  at  Harvard  did  not  distinguish  himself  in 
any  form  of  athletics.  But  he  took  part  in 
all  forms,  practically  and  actively  participating 
as  far  as  his  strength  and  time  would  permit, 
and  always  in  the  most  true  sportsman's  spirit. 
He  set  himself  patiently  and  intelligently  to  the 
task  of  securing  a  sound  body  to  sustain  a  sound 
mind  ;  and  now  he  has  remarkable  strength, 
suppleness,  and  health,  sustaining  and  invigorat- 
ing a  brilliant  mind.  Undoubtedly  some  of  his 
most  admirable  qualities  —  honor,  courage,  alert- 
ness,   energy  —  owe    not   their   origin   but   their 


116     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

development  to  his  mode  of  life,  to  his  incessant 
bodily   activity  in  the  open  air. 

This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter.  Put  yourself  in  the  hands  of  an  expert 
physical  director,  and  determine  your  physical 
disabilities  and  limitations.  Prepare  for  outdoor 
life  and  sports  by  systematic  and  intelligent  in- 
door training.  Then  remember  that  athletics 
have  been  very  well  denned  as  healthy  exercise  in 
manly  and  necessary  pastimes,  and  that  they  are 
never  to  be  considered  an  end,  but  are  to  be 
wisely  and  properly  subordinated  to  your  life- 
work.  Participate  personally  and  practically 
whenever  and  wherever  you  can ;  fight  to  a 
finish,  every  time,  any  semblance  of  profession- 
alism and  all  forms  of  gambling  ;  play  like  a 
gentleman,  not  for  the  sake  of  victory,  but  for 
the  sake  of  the  game  ;  win  like  a  gentleman, 
without  obtrusive  conceit  ;  and  lose  like  a  gen- 
tleman, without  the  whimpers  and  reproaches 
and  excuses  of  a  cad.  Go  carefully  in  your  first 
year  in  order  that  you  may  avoid  overstrain  of 
any  sort,  and  may  not  be  drawn  unduly  away  from 
your  studies  ;  and  lighten  your  athletic  work 
in  the  last  year,  in  order  that  you  may  do  your 


Athletics  117 

closing  educational  work  with  full  credit,  and 
that  you  may  give  the  younger  fellows  a  chance 
on  the  field. 

You  will  never  regret  such  a  course  as  this. 
You  will  always  regret  anything  other  or  less 
than  this. 


VII 

Other  College  Enterprises 

Just  as  there  are  at  least  a  dozen  forms  of 
outdoor  life  for  your  leisure  moments,  each  more 
or  less  tempting  and  each  more  or  less  helpful, 
so  there  are  quite  as  many  indoor  enterprises 
which  are  attractive,  or  which  appeal  to  your 
sense  of  public  spirit,  or  come  to  you  in  the  form 
of  a  public  service  to  which  you  are  in  duty 
bound  to  give  some  heed.  The  very  danger 
of  these  lies  in  their  multiplicity  and  in  their 
attractiveness.  If  you  happen  to  have  a  "  voice  ' 
and  enjoy  music,  or  have  had  some  experience 
in  private  theatricals,  or  find  something  of  the 
orator  in  your  composition,  or  enjoy  discussion 
and  debate,  or  have  any  fad  of  any  kind,  you 
will  be  immediately  in  demand.  If  you  chance 
to  be  a  brilliant  and  versatile  fellow,  the  demand 
will  become  both  plural  and  well-nigh  imperative. 
In   all   college   undertakings   the   conditions  are 

118 


Other  College  Enterprises  119 

very  much  as  you  will  find  them  in  the  outer 
world,  after  graduation  —  and  this  is  one  reason 
why  college  life  and  experience  are  so  advanta- 
geous ;  and  the  first  and  most  easily  noted  of 
these  conditions  is  that  competent,  faithful,  work- 
ing members  are  rare  in  any  organization,  and 
that  those  carrying  the  heavy  end  of  the  load 
are  always  looking  anxiously  for  assistance. 
Further,  although  you  may  not  act  with  unmixed 
motives,  there  is  genuine  pleasure  and  very 
permissible  pride  in  being  able  to  bring  things 
to  pass.  In  later  life  you  will  feel  a  glow  and  a 
tingle  when  you  realize  that  a  dead  literary 
society  dated  its  renaissance  from  the  night  when 
you  joined ;  that  the  choral  union  took  on  new 
life  under  your  leadership  ;  that  the  most  brill- 
iant successes  of  the  dramatic  club  were  during 
your  re*gime  ;  that  when  you  were  managing 
editor,  the  college  paper  was  not  only  bright 
and  clean,  but  was  out  of  debt  for  the  very  first 
time  in  its  long  existence  ;  that  the  year  in  which 
the  luck  turned  in  our  favor,  in  the  intercol- 
legiate debate,  was  the  year  in  which,  for  the 
first  time,  you  took  the  platform.  The  approval 
and  the  congratulations  of  your  fellows  were  very 


120     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

sweet  to  you,  —  really,  nothing  since  has  been 
sweeter,  —  and  you  were  fully  warranted  in 
enjoying  it  all. 

Yet  it  may  be  —  it  is  not  often  so,  however, 
and  it  is  never  necessarily  so — -that  you  pur- 
chased all  this  at  the  direct  expense  of  your 
regular  work  —  in  a  certain  sense,  your  more 
legitimate  work.  It  is  against  such  an  unwar- 
ranted and  foolish  waste  of  opportunity  that 
you  need  to  be  warned.  In  all  these  enterprises 
do  what  you  can,  of  course  ;  but  be  sure  to  do 
no  more  than  your  regular  work  will  permit. 
There  are  many  interesting  things  in  this  life 
in  which  even  a  very  large  man  may  decline  to 
be  interested.  This  does  not  mean,  necessarily, 
that  he  is  short  sighted,  or  selfish,  or  disloyal,  or 
lacking  in  public  spirit  ;  it  simply  means  that 
one  man  cannot  be  actively  and  efficiently  inter- 
ested in  everything,  nor  indeed  in  very  many 
things.  As  in  athletics,  you  must  use  discretion 
in  determining  what  you  will  undertake. 

Fortunately,  both  for  the  various  organizations 
and  for  yourself,  conditions  favor  your  under- 
taking more  than  one  of  these  enterprises. 
Literary  societies  meet   but   once   each  week,  at 


Other  College  Enterprises  121 

the  most.  For  both  music  and  the  drama  there 
is  a  season.  Intercollegiate  debates  happen  but 
once  or  twice  a  year.  The  college  press,  like  the 
poor,  is  always  with  you,  and  doubtless  is  more 
exacting  than  any  other  student  undertaking. 
Once  fairly  in  that  harness,  and  there  is  little 
rest  during  your  year  of  service.  But  aside 
from  this,  one  may  serve  in  several  capacities, 
if  the  demand  does  not  become  too  continuous 
or  too  often  repeated. 

As  I  write,  there  is  on  my  desk  the  student 
year-book  of  one  of  our  greatest  colleges. 
Turning  the  pages  quickly,  and  without  regard 
to  importance,  I  find  the  following  organizations 
or  associations  mentioned  :  — 

The  organization  which  brings  out  the  year- 
book itself  —  no  small  task  and  no  unimportant 
service,  though  rarely  appreciated  by  either 
officers  or  students  ;  the  class  organizations  as 
such,  which  if  successfully  and  efficiently  main- 
tained cost  some  few  students  much  time  and 
thought  and  active  effort  ;  seven  college  publi- 
cations, four  of  which  are  managed  by  students 
exclusively,  and  three  of  which  unite  officers 
with    students    in    editorial    work  ;    twenty-two 


122     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

fraternities,  the  characteristics  of  which  we  have 
already  discussed  ;  twenty -two  student  clubs  or 
societies  —  of  which  seven  are  literary  in  char- 
acter, five  are  devoted  to  music,  four  are 
specifically  limited  to  debate,  two  are  strictly 
technical,  one  is  purely  social,  two  are  out-of- 
door  clubs,  one  is  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. — which 
ought  to  be  the  great  clearing-house  for  all 
religious,  ethical,  and  social  student  life ;  and 
sixteen  athletic  organizations.  Of  course  this 
is  a  rather  unusual  record  of  student  activity 
and  of  the  diversity  of  students'  interests  ;  and 
is  quite  a  sure  sign  of  a  large,  healthful,  and 
prosperous  institution.  But  proportions  some- 
thing or  very  much  like  these  will  be  found  in 
every  American  college  which  is  not  absolutely 
moribund. 

Now,  if  you  will  turn  back  to  the  schedule 
which  we  made  out  for  the  work  of  each  day, 
you  will  find  that  the  margin  of  time  for  these 
diversified  interests  is  really  very  slight.  One 
evening  each  week  may  be  spared  easily  enough ; 
and,  with  unusual  care  as  to  the  intervening 
time,  another  evening  may  occasionally  be  taken 
with   entire   safety,  except   during    such   special 


Other   College  Enterprises  123 

periods  as  examination  week.  Beyond  this  it 
surely  is  neither  wise  nor  safe  to  go.  There  is 
always  the  unexpected,  the  emergency,  to  meet 
and  care  for ;  and  this  averages  no  small  expen- 
diture of  time.  The  decisive  factor,  however, 
should  be  this  :  that  you  are  not  to  undertake 
what  you  cannot  do  reasonably  well,  since  any- 
thing short  of  this  is  a  positive  injury  not  only  to 
the  enterprise  but  to  yourself.  One  of  your  first 
lessons,  therefore,  will  be  to  say  no  —  very  kindly, 
very  wisely,  very  reasonably,  but  very  firmly. 

Properly  used,  all  these  organizations  will 
minister  to  your  present  development,  and  to 
your  future  usefulness,  and  some  of  them  seem 
almost  imperative  to  that.  By  this  is  meant 
that  there  are  some  experiences  which  are  almost 
conditions  precedent  to  your  future  success,  and 
which  cannot  be  secured  outside  of  active  mem- 
bership in  one  or  more  of  these  societies.  In  a 
country  of  free  and  democratic  public  life,  like 
our  own,  that  citizen  is  surely  lacking  in  effi- 
ciency who  cannot  stand  on  his  feet  before  his 
fellow-citizens,  and  say  his  say  in  a  manner  that 
will  invite  attention  and  will  gain  at  least  a 
respectful    hearing.      Public     discussion    is    the 


124      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

very  life  of  the  republic,  and  each  man  ought 
to  be  able  to  play  his  part.  So,  too,  it  often 
happens  that  one  is  called  to  preside  over  some 
deliberative  body  —  of  any  form  or  importance, 
from  a  small  committee  to  a  public  convention  ; 
and  he  needs  to  have  at  least  a  fair  knowledge 
of  parliamentary  usage  and  of  the  rules  govern- 
ing such  assemblies.  Nowhere  is  there  better 
training  preparatory  to  this  than  is  to  be  found 
in  the  various  debates,  discussions,  and  business 
meetings  of  the  college  literary  societies,  when 
they  are  carefully  conducted  ;  and  many  a  man 
owes  to  this  part  of  his  student  life  his  success 
on  the  floor  or  with  the  gavel.  Nothing  is  more 
pitiful  than  a  gathering  in  which  everything 
drags  and  goes  halting  for  want  of  competent 
leadership,  with  friction  and  irritation  and  loss 
of  time  and  costly  blundering  and  general  ineffi- 
ciency. Some  of  our  most  ready  public  speakers 
and  most  brilliant  parliamentarians  have  laid  the 
foundations  of  their  careers  in  these  college  or- 
ganizations, and  speak  with  warmest  apprecia- 
tion of  this  miniature  field  of  intellectual  strife. 
Hon.  John  Spooner,  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
men  on  the  floor  of    the    United    States   Senate, 


Other  College  Enterprises  125 

often  refers  to  his  experiences  in  his  college 
literary  societies  and  debating  unions  as  the  be- 
ginning of  his  public  life ;  and  his  college  mates 
recall  with  interest  and  with  pride  his  early 
preeminence  in  these  undertakings.  Nor  is  he 
alone  in  this  appreciation  of  the  value  of  college 
organizations. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  curriculum  which 
can  take  the  place  of  this ;  even  though  (as  in 
some  institutions)  there  is  regular  work  offered 
in  forensics,  under  competent  instruction.  Such 
work  is  very  desirable  and  very  helpful,  and 
should  be  carried  whenever  possible ;  but 
it  can  no  more  take  the  place  of  the  unre- 
strained and  free  play  of  all  mental  faculties 
and  powers  during  some  debate  or  discussion 
in  a  student  society,  than  formal  indoor  gym- 
nastics can  hope  to  supplant  outdoor  games 
carried  on  with  all  the  enthusiasm  and  spon- 
taneity of  youth. 

The  work  upon  the  college  press,  if  properly 
performed,  has  unusual  value.  It  is  worth 
much  to  acquire  that  facility  of  expression  which 
comes  from  much  "pushing  the  pencil."  It  is 
entirely  true  that  a   careless   and  slovenly   style 


126     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

may  be  the  result;  but  this  is  a  misuse  of  an 
opportunity  and  an  abuse  of  a  privilege.  To 
make  even  reasonably  careful  selection  of  new 
items,  to  determine  the  make-up  of  each  issue, 
to  conduct  a  department  successfully,  to  discuss 
college  affairs  with  some  sense  of  perspective, 
to  secure  from  others  and  from  the  right  people 
the  more  formal  articles  and  communications, 
to  maintain  proper  relations  with  the  college 
authorities  without  losing  ground  with  the  stu- 
dents, to  make  the  paper  really  effective  in 
college  life  and  for  college  interests, — this  is 
to  be  a  successful  editor,  reporter,  contributor, 
solicitor,  and  manager  all  in  one.  This  cannot 
be  accomplished  without  an  experience  and  a 
training  of  the  greatest  possible  value.  One  of 
the  foremost  financiers  of  this  country  has  re- 
cently said  that  he  owed  his  success  as  an  organ- 
izer and  his  tact  in  bringing  others  to  take  part 
in  his  great  financial  undertakings  to  his  train- 
ing and  experience  as  a  solicitor  for  advertise- 
ments and  subscribers,  when  connected  with  the 
press  of  his  college ;  and  no  small  number  of 
those  who  are  most  prominent  to-day  in  the  field 
of   current    journalism  began  their  work  in   the 


Other  College  Enterprises  127 

same  way.  All  this  is  but  another  proof  of  the 
microcosmic  character,  the  little-worldness,  of 
the  college,  and  of  the  fact  that  human  nature 
is  much  the  same  wherever  encountered. 

The  departmental  societies,  or  clubs,  are  purely- 
technical  in  the  character  of  their  work,  and  are 
to  be  accepted  as  a  means  of  enlarging  the  gen- 
eral resources  of  the  college  and  of  deepening 
and  enriching  the  curriculum.  It  is  a  piece  of 
good  fortune,  for  instance,  to  be  able  to  secure 
in  this  way  an  hour's  discussion,  even  once  each 
month,  of  the  more  recent  magazine  articles 
bearing  upon  the  work  of  a  given  department ; 
or  to  have  reports  made  of  the  latest  results  of 
research ;  or  to  know  how  each  student  of  some 
special  phase  of  your  work  is  succeeding,  and 
what  his  experiences  have  been  since  you  last 
met.  The  discussions  in  these  volunteer  sem- 
inars, the  close  contact  secured  with  both  in- 
structors and  fellow-students,  give  to  all  the 
work  a  freshness  and  vitality  which  is  scarcely 
attainable  in  any  other  way.  Membership  in 
these  organizations  is  generally  deferred  to  the 
junior  year;  that  is,  till  the  student  has  dis- 
played   special    aptitude    for    the    work    and    is 


128     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

sufficiently  advanced  really  to  profit  by  it.  In 
fact,  in  many  of  the  larger  colleges  and  uni- 
versities there  has  come  this  quite  natural  order 
of  membership  and  work  :  the  literary  societies 
during  freshman  and  sophomore  years,  with 
intercollegiate  contests  for  junior  and  senior 
years ;  and  departmental  clubs  and  societies 
during  the  last  two  years  of  the  course,  or  dur- 
ing senior  year  and  as  graduate  students.  This 
is  a  very  natural  as  well  as  a  very  wise  division 
of  activity. 

I  wish  to  add  a  word  of  warm  commendation  of 
the  musical  and  dramatic  organizations.  If  you 
have  no  ear  for  music,  if  you  cannot  sing,  if  you 
have  not  even  reasonable  mastery  of  any  musical 
instrument,  then  this  paragraph  is  not  for  you. 
You  are  to  be  pitied,  since  you  are  always  to  be 
denied  one  of  the  purest  and  highest  pleasures  of 
life.  But  if  you  have  a  delight  in  harmony,  and 
can  add  even  a  little  in  any  way  whatever  to  the 
volume  of  either  chorus  or  orchestra,  by  all  means 
find  time  for  this.  The  returns  in  enjoyment,  in 
companionship,  in  keen  delight,  will  more  than 
repay  you  for  any  sacrifice  which  membership 
may  reasonably  demand.     There  is  no  satisfaction 


Other   College  Enterprises  129 

quite  so  great,  no  memory  quite  so  lasting,  as  that 
of  a  winter's  work  over  some  symphony,  the 
earnest  attempt  to  interpret  a  master ;  or  the 
long  evenings  spent  in  the  study  of  an  oratorio, 
or  upon  mixed  programmes.  If  you  are  able  to 
do  no  more  than  take  part  in  class  "  sings,"  or  in 
the  less  formal  college  songs  by  a  few  who  have 
met  casually  under  the  trees  or  by  some  fireside,  do 
that.  Of  all  the  memories  of  my  own  college 
days  none  are  more  distinct  or  more  thoroughly 
enjoyable  than  those  of  the  evenings  of  the  last 
month  of  the  academic  year,  when  so  frequently 
twenty  or  thirty  or  even  fifty  of  us  would  happen 
together  in  some  favored  spot  after  supper  (as  the 
third  meal  of  the  day  was  called  then)  and, 
guided  by  the  glow  of  our  leader's  cigar,  which  he 
used  as  a  conductor's  baton,  for  an  hour  or  more 
sing  the  old,  old  songs  we  loved  so  well.  When  can 
we  ever  forget  the  last  gathering  of  each  senior 
class,  late  on  the  afternoon  of  baccalaureate  Sun- 
day, under  the  huge  campus  trees,  with  a  fair 
June  sky  already  flushing  with  approaching  sun- 
set, within  a  cordon  of  other  classmen  and  with 
possibly  four  or  five  hundred  visitors  and 
villagers   as   uninvited   but    welcomed    guests — ■ 


130     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

when  the  hymn  books  were  brought  over  from 
the  chapel,  and  for  two  hours  the  air  was  full  of 
the  sweet  melodies  of  familiar  tunes.  These  are 
experiences  which  you  ought  to  share,  events  in 
which  you  ought  to  take  part,  and  memories 
which  should  be  your  own  through  all  your 
life. 

As  for  private  or  student  theatricals,  under 
wise  guidance  and  skilled  direction  they  are 
exceedingly  helpful  to  the  participants  in  giving 
ease  of  movement  and  both  bodily  and  mental 
assurance  before  an  audience ;  and  they  add  much 
to  the  pleasure  of  the  student  body  and  of  the 
friends  of  the  institution.  In  them  again  you 
will  find  the  satisfaction,  often  the  keen  delight, 
which  comes  from  direct  cooperation  with  your 
fellows,  from  a  close  companionship  in  a  united 
effort  for  a  common  end.  Such  opportunities  are 
not  to  be  neglected  or  ignored.  They  furnish 
precisely  what  the  world  is  more  or  less  con- 
sciously seeking  every  day  —  helpful,  inspiring 
contact  between  man  and  man. 

With  regard  to  all  these  organizations,  there 
are  just  two  general  principles  to  be  observed. 
First,   do  not  be  a  deadhead  in   any    of  these 


Other  College  Enterprises  131 

enterprises.  If  you  join,  do  so  with  a  determina- 
tion to  give  rather  than  to  receive — a  determina- 
tion, by  the  way,  which  is  always  rewarded  by 
the  very  richest  personal  returns :  "  there  is  that 
scattereth  and  increaseth  yet  more  .  .  .  and  he 
that  watereth  shall  be  watered  also  himself."  Be 
loyal,  intelligently  active,  wisely  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  association.  Let  this  be  a  part 
of  your  education  in  methods,  what  may  be  called 
your  normal  training  in  practical  affairs,  which  is 
to  give  you  both  zeal  and  understanding  in  that 
public  service  of  which  every  worthy  citizen 
ought  to  render  his  full  share,  and  a  tithe  over  for 
good  measure  or  to  make  up  the  shortage  of 
some  less  public  spirited  man.  We  still  need,  in 
this  country,  much  versatility,  ease  of  movement, 
readiness  of  adjustment —  and  this  can  only  come 
with  practice.  Moreover,  you  are  still  unknown 
to  yourself  ;  and  you  can  only  discover  the  best 
that  is  in  you  by  giving  your  faculties  and  powers 
free  play  in  several  directions,  —  not  carelessly, 
ignorantly,  thoughtlessly,  but  with  much  definite- 
ness  of  purpose,  keeping  yourself  entirely  safe 
from  mental  or  social  vagabondage.  To  wander 
aimlessly,  to  become  a  "  jiner,"  simply  to  dabble 


132     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

in  many  things  —  this  is  to  become  shiftless  rather 
than  shifty  ;  and  there  is  as  wide  a  difference 
between  the  two  as  between  darkness  and  day- 
light. 

Second,  do  well,  thoroughly  well,  all  which 
you  undertake ;  and  undertake  no  more  than  you 
can  do  well.  There  are  groanings  unspeakable 
in  every  quarter  of  the  known  earth  because 
of  work  but  half  done,  tasks  but  half  performed, 
promises  but  half  kept,  enterprises  carried  in  a 
most  slovenly  manner,  calculations  utterly  lacking 
exactness,  plans  without  method,  schemes  which 
trust  to  luck,  a  race  which  is  run  with  entire 
negligence  at  the  start  and  with  no  clear  percep- 
tion of  the  goal.  For  the  sake  of  your  own 
future,  then,  compel  yourself  to  prepare  carefully 
for  every  function.  Never  undertake  a  leading 
part  relying  upon  your  "general  information." 
That  may  pass  muster  when  you  engage  in  gen- 
eral and  informal  discussion,  but  not  elsewhere. 
If  you  are  to  read  a  paper,  try  to  make  it  the  best 
paper  of  the  season.  If  you  are  to  debate,  inform 
yourself  broadly  and  accurately.  If  you  accept 
responsibility  for  one  of  the  college  papers,  make 
it  clean,  bright,  newsy,  competent,  and  thoroughly 


Other  College  Enterprises  133 

reliable  —  or  drop  it.  And  so  on,  to  the  end  of 
the  chapter.  Count  the  cost,  making  your 
estimate  of  time  and  strength  cover  thorough, 
first-class  work  ;  and,  having  accepted,  drive  the 
enterprise  through  to  a  successful  conclusion.  All 
at  it  and  all  the  time  at  it  —  that  will  surely  win. 
If  you  have  accustomed  yourself  to  downright 
hard  work  on  your  studies,  carry  this  over  to 
these  minor  matters.  As  on  the  stage,  your 
"asides"  may  be  brief  and  infrequent,  but  they 
must  be  spoken  as  clearly  and  acted  as  perfectly 
as  any  other  lines  in  your  part,  if  either  the  audi- 
ence or  yourself  are  to  be  satisfied.  If  you  have 
done  your  regular  work  slowly  and  heavily,  it 
will  be  quickened  and  lightened  by  better  work 
in  other  directions.  You  cannot  acquire  a  rapid 
walk  without  strengthening  and  enlarging  all 
your  physical  powers.  You  cannot  have  your 
eyes  opened  by  any  process  whatever,  or  see  more 
accurately  any  one  thing,  without  widening  the 
general  range  of  your  vision.  Action  and  re- 
action are  in  constant  play,  and  carelessness  in 
one  direction  breeds  carelessness  in  another.  In 
all  this  work,  therefore,  though  outside  of  your 
regular  college  duties,  act  well  your  part. 


VIII 

Electives 

At  the  opening  of  your  junior  year,  in  many 
institutions  even  before  that  year,  you  will  find 
that  you  may  make  choice  of  one  or  more  subjects 
in  place  of  those  appearing  in  the  regular  curricu- 
lum ;  that  you  may  "  elect "  which  one  or  more 
subjects  you  will  consider.  In  some  colleges  the 
courses  are  fixed,  or  "  required,"  throughout  the 
first  two  years,  with  some  freedom  of  movement 
in  the  junior  year,  and  more  in  the  senior  year. 
In  others  a  student  is  permitted,  even  in  his 
freshman  year,  to  choose  one  of  three  sciences  ; 
in  his  sophomore  year,  to  make  certain  selections 
in  the  general  division  of  history  and  political 
science,  or  within  the  lines  of  the  division  of 
English  ;  while  his  last  two  years  become  quite 
free.  Sometimes  this  is  expressed  as  a  choice  of 
so  many  "hours'  work"  in  any  division,  depart- 
ment,   or    school    of    the    university ;    generally 

134 


Mectives  135 

about  two-thirds  of  the  total  number  of  hours 
required.  Many  institutions  demand  that  one  of 
the  courses  selected  shall  be  known  as  a  major 
course,  to  which  possibly  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
schedule  time  shall  be  given,  the  remaining  time 
to  be  spent  upon  a  minor,  which  shall  be  cognate 
to  the  major  :  as,  an  English  history  major  with 
contemporaneous  continental  history  as  a  minor  ; 
or  Latin  as  a  major  with  Romance  languages  as  a 
minor.  Generally,  certain  degrees  can  be  ob- 
tained only  by  meeting  certain  fixed  requirements 
on  definite  lines  ;  this  demand  satisfied,  the  stu- 
dent may  turn  freely  in  any  other  direction.  If 
the  student  has  determined  what  his  professional 
work  is  to  be,  some  institutions  permit  him  to 
elect  a  part  of  that  work  in  place  of  part  or  all  of 
the  usual  studies  of  his  last  college  year,  a  plan 
which  counts  the  same  work  toward  each  of  two 
degrees,  and  shortens  the  aggregate  time  usually 
required  for  both  the  college  work  and  that  of  the 
professional  school. 

All  this  has  come  about  slowly,  with  no  little 
opposition,  and  with  many  honest  differences  of 
opinion,  and  has  happened  (for  its  advance  has 
been    rather    casual    than    regular)    because    a 


136     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

greater  range  and  keenness  of  intellectual  vision 
has  discovered  that  there  are  a  large  number  of 
studies  having  great  educational  value  and  power 
which  are  outside  the  accepted  curriculum  ;  and 
that  the  number  of  these  subjects  is  too  large  to 
be  definitely  included  in  any  fixed  curriculum. 
Admitting  that  all  are  desirable  and  valuable, 
though  perhaps  not  equally  valuable,  there  is  but 
one  logical  issue  :  to  permit  the  largest  possible 
freedom  of  choice.  Electives  have  not  been  es- 
tablished, therefore,  to  create  an  easy  road  to  a 
degree  ;  they  are  not  intended  to  be  regarded  as 
a  collection  of  soft  snaps,  it  is  not  expected  that 
they  will  become  the  refuge  of  every  weak  and 
timid  man,  the  sauntering  ground  for  every  edu- 
cational loafer,  the  safe  harbor  for  every  shirk  ; 
nor  is  this  true  of  them  —  much  that  is  said  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  The  elective  system 
has  been  misused  and  abused  by  both  faculty  and 
students,  beyond  question.  It  has  been  the 
means  of  relieving  the  student  of  much  that  has 
been  distasteful  to  him,  and  for  that  very  reason 
all  the  more  salutary  ;  and,  undoubtedly,  some 
weak  or  mercenary  instructors  have  used  the  sys- 
tem to  bolster  up  their  failing  fortunes.     Numbers 


Elective*  137 

of  students  and  officers  considered,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  there  has  been  more  abuse  by  one  than  by 
the  other.  But  this  misuse  really  proves  nothing 
as  to  the  merits  of  the  system  ;  it  simply  bears 
upon  the  character,  or  want  of  character,  of  those 
who  use  the  system  to  further  their  own  private 
ends.  In  the  hands  of  the  ignorant  or  vicious, 
dynamite  is  exceedingly  dangerous  ;  but  we  have 
no  serious  thought  of  abandoning  its  use. 

There  are  two  ways  of  using  electives,  either 
being  desirable  and  helpful.  Choice  may  be 
made  of  those  subjects  which  will  broaden  the 
otherwise  necessarily  restricted  course,  or  of 
those  which  will  intensify  some  portion  of  it.  As 
illustrations  of  each,  you  may  substitute  three  one- 
term  studies  for  the  last  year  of  Latin,  or  you 
may  take  (practically)  five  years  of  Latin  instead 
of  four.  Which  of  these  courses  you  will  pursue 
will  depend  very  much  upon  the  nature  of  your 
graduate  work  or  of  your  work  after  graduation, 
upon  your  natural  or  acquired  liking  for  a  given 
subject,  or  upon  the  strength  or  attractiveness  of 
some  given  instructor.  As  a  fact,  it  is  probable 
that  the  choice  of  studies  is  quite  evenly  divided 
between  intensive  and  extensive  work      From  an 


138     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

educational  standpoint,  it  is  still  doubtful  which 
is  the  more  desirable,  or  whether  there  is  a  psy- 
chologic choice  between  the  two.  It  is  probable 
that  the  wisdom  of  the  choice  is  determined  by 
several  factors,  in  which  the  personal  factor  plays 
an  important  part. 

If  your  choice  is  for  intensive  work,  your 
course  is  comparatively  plain.  The  department 
within  which  the  subject  falls  necessarily  deter- 
mines the  exact  form  of  the  work,  and  you  are 
very  completely  under  its  guidance  and  practi- 
cally dependent  upon  it  for  both  opportunity  and 
method.  It  were  almost  useless  to  advise  you, 
since  you  are  bound  to  follow  the  lines  which  the 
department  lays  down.  The  only  caution  which 
may  be  given  is  to  be  sure  not  to  substitute 
quantity  for  quality,  not  to  fancy  that  you  are 
doing  well  because  you  are  doing  much,  and  to 
avoid  work  offered  by  some  shrewd  and  unscru- 
pulous instructor  —  occasionally  there  is  such  a 
one,  it  must  be  confessed  with  shame  —  with  the 
intention  of  advancing  his  own  personal  reputa- 
tion or  departmental  interests  rather  than  of 
contributing  to  the  cause  of  sound  education 
and  advanced  learning.     Fortunately,  that  quick 


Elective*  139 

insight,  that  instinct  so  surely  developed  in  an 
earnest  student,  is  a  great  protection  ;  and  stu- 
dents often  detect  a  sham,  and  scent  selfishness  or 
fraud  or  incompetency,  much  sooner  than  those 
more  directly  responsible  for  the  management  of 
the  institution.  Unfortunately  their  own  indo- 
lence or  selfishness  sometimes  prompts  them  to 
profit  by  the  weakness  or  shortsightedness  of 
others  ;  but  they  are  generally  very  frank  among 
themselves,  and  you  will  be  rarely  misled  by  the 
prevailing  sentiment  of  the  student  body,  or  by 
any  considerable  portion  of  it,  with  regard  to  the 
actual  value  of  the  work  of  any  given  instructor. 
Only  be  thoroughly  honest  with  yourself,  and  do 
not  consent  to  thwart  the  very  purpose  of  your  be- 
coming a  collegian.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  educa- 
tional deceit,  you  really  harm  only  yourself  in  the 
end.  You  have  had  given  you  time,  opportunity, 
and  all  the  materials  with  which  to  build  a  house. 
You  may  slight  the  work  if  you  will,  you  may  use 
seconds  and  commons  instead  of  clear  lumber,  you 
may  put  mill  finish  in  place  of  hand  dressing,  you 
may  cover  defects  with  paint  and  putty,  and 
you  may  succeed  in  putting  up  a  building  which 
will  be  favorably  received  on  a  final  examination, 


140     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

and  for  which  a  diploma  of  merit  may  be  awarded 
you.  But  you  yourself  must  live  in  that  house, 
and  the  longer  you  live  in  it  the  more  will  every 
defect  become  apparent,  the  greater  will  be  your 
discomfort  because  of  every  dishonesty  connected 
with  its  erection,  and  the  more  complete  will  be 
your  humiliation  and  shame.  Never  use  the  elec- 
tive system,  then,  in  other  than  a  most  honest 
and  faithful  effort  to  strengthen  your  educa- 
tional work  and  to  enlarge  your  educational 
opportunities. 

If  you  decide  to  broaden  your  course,  you  are 
in  less  danger  in  the  direction  just  indicated, 
because  you  will  work  in  several  departments  ; 
and  as  a  class  the  members  of  our  college  fac- 
ulties are  peculiarly  honorable,  competent,  unself- 
ish, and  worthy.  Indeed,  it  is  very  doubtful 
whether  any  other  profession  can  show  a  greater 
aggregate  or  a  higher  average  of  integrity  in 
both  character  and  work.  You  will  always  find 
this  definite  advantage  in  all  elective  work :  it 
is  generally  on  lines  of  especial  interest  to  the 
instructors  as  well  as  to  the  students,  which  fact 
naturally  creates  more  than  usual  enthusiasm  in 
both  ;    and   under  these   conditions  the   pace    is 


Electives  141 

rapid,  the  sense  of   fatigue   is   less,  and  there  is 
a    delight    and    satisfaction    to    be    found    only 
in   that   effort    which   is   entirely  voluntary  and 
free,   known    only  to   those  who   are   running   a 
race    absolutely    of    their    own    choosing.     It    is 
this   which   has   caused   many  a  student   to   feel 
and    assert   that   he  accomplished  more,  that  his 
work   was    "more   to   the   purpose,"    during    his 
first   term    of   electives    than    during    any  whole 
year  of  earlier  work.     There  is  much  exaggera- 
tion in  this  statement,  and  a  student  making  it 
does  not  realize  or  else  forgets  that   the  success 
of   his    first    term    of    electives  is  largely  if    not 
wholly    conditioned   upon  and   made  possible  by 
his  earlier  fixed  work,  with   its   strict  discipline 
and  sound  training  ;  yet  there  is  much  truth  in 
the   statement   also.     You   should    never   forget, 
however,  that   in   education  as  in  civil  life,  per- 
fect  liberty  is    conditioned   upon  law,  not   upon 
license ;  indeed,  with  license  liberty  dies.     Edu- 
cation   ceases    to    be   possible   when   intellectual 
vagabondage  begins.     In  broadening  your  course, 
therefore,  you   are   not   to   run   hither   and  yon, 
getting    here    a    little    and    there   less,    moving 
without  definite  purpose  and  stopping  by  chance, 


142     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

never  correlating  your  work,  and  securing  an 
indigestible  pot-pourri  of  all  sorts  of  depart- 
mental odds  and  ends  and  leavings.  It  is  all 
very  well  to  dine  a  la  carte,  and  any  sensible 
man  prefers  it  to  a  table  d'hote;  but  if  you  mix 
cranberries  and  cream,  and  insist  on  putting 
sugar  in  your  cup-consomme,  you  will  simply 
make  a  decided  mess  of  what  might  otherwise 
have  been  an  attractive  and  palatable  menu. 

Let  me  give  you  a  few  illustrations  of  wisely 
chosen  electives,  with  selections  made  with  a 
view  of  broadening  and  enriching  your  course. 
You  may  not  be  able  to  find  at  the  college  of 
your  choice  the  electives  which  are  named  here  ; 
but  the  themes  will  be  at  least  suggestive  for 
collateral  reading,  if  you  are  so  unfortunate  as 
to  fail  of  direct  instruction  therein. 

Let  us  suppose  that  you  have  had  a  half 
year's  work  in  the  elements  of  political  economy, 
and  have  become  sufficiently  interested  to  desire 
to  extend  that  work.  It  ought  to  be  possible 
for  you  to  get  a  course  in  practical  problems  in 
economics  —  a  rapid  review  of  such  themes  as 
money,  the  tariff,  railways,  immigration.  To 
this  may   be  added   work   upon    the   history   of 


Mectives  143 

industrial  society ;  or  the  industrial  and  finan- 
cial history  of  this  country  ;  or  a  more  specific 
study  of  public  finance  and  taxation,  or  of  pri- 
vate financiering  —  such  as  credit  and  banking. 
Many  institutions  are  now  offering  courses  in 
trade  and  commerce  and  in  commercial  geog- 
raphy, all  of  especial  interest  and  value  to 
Americans  just  now. 

Or  suppose  history  to  have  become  something 
more  than  a  collection  of  the  dry  bones  of  dates 
and  disconnected  events.  Then  you  may  take 
a  dip  into  the  political  and  constitutional  his- 
tory of  England,  or  the  era  of  the  Protestant 
reformation,  or  the  stirring  days  of  the  French 
Revolution,  or  the  political  history  of  our  own 
country,  or  the  history  of  European  colonies  — 
again  a  subject  of  most  immediate  and  profound 
interest  to  us  all.  A  half  year,  or  even  two 
hours  a  week  for  a  half  year,  given  to  one  or 
more  of  these  themes,  would  go  far  toward  mak- 
ing you  a  wise  man  and  an  intelligent  and  help- 
ful citizen. 

Possibly  philosophy  or  psychology  prove  inter- 
esting. You  may  follow  the  elementary  work 
with   the   history  of   ancient   and   mediaeval  and 


144      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

modern  philosophic  thought;  or  with  a  course 
in  ethics ;  or  with  a  half  year  of  logic ;  or  you 
may  even  go  into  the  laboratory,  and  try  some 
work  in  experimental  psychology,  without  which 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  any  very  clear 
idea  of  the  modern  standpoint. 

General  literature  may  be  followed  by  special 
work  on  Shakespeare  and  the  English  drama,  or 
on  poetry  or  the  novel.  Greek  may  bring  you 
to  a  study  of  ancient  art ;  Latin,  to  that  of  in- 
scriptions or  antiquities.  Rhetoric  and  English 
naturally  lead  to  exercises  in  rapid  writing,  in 
brief-making  and  debating  and  public  speaking, 
in  criticism,  and  in  translation. 

With  every  such  advance  you  reach  higher 
ground,  you  breathe  and  move  more  freely, 
your  horizon  is  constantly  expanding,  you  are 
larger  in  intellectual  frame,  your  work  is  less 
mechanical,  you  come  into  more  distinct  and 
positive  enjoyment  of  opportunity,  hours  which 
perhaps  have  dragged  heavily  in  the  past  now 
disappear  all  too  rapidly,  growth  has  really  be- 
gun, and  you  are  experiencing  the  pure  joy  of 
living. 

I  have  left  for  my  last  word  on  electives  that 


Electives  145 

which  is  really  the  best  word  :  this,  that  after  all 
the  greatest  advantage  in  the  elective  system  is 
that  you  have  an  opportunity  to  choose  your  in- 
structor—  a   most   blessed   privilege,  which   you 
ought  never  willingly  to  neglect  or  forego.     Al- 
ways   remember    Mr.    Emerson's   words,    "  It    is 
little  matter  what  you  learn,  the  question  is  with 
whom  you  learn."     What   you   most   need   as   a 
student  is  not  information,  but  teachers  to  whom 
you  will  be  "profoundly  and  eternally  indebted." 
Even  under  most  wise  administration  it  is  simply 
impossible  to  secure  a  faculty  made  up  entirely  of 
men  with  distinct  force  of  character,  earnestness 
of   life,  constant   industry,  unfailing   thoughtful- 
ness  and  consideration,  unflagging  interest  in  each 
student,    and   with    a    high    degree   of    teaching 
power.     Really,  there  are  not  enough  of  such  men 
to  "go  around,"  and  the  impossible  can  no  more 
be  achieved  in  education  than  in  any  other  walk 
of  life.     Hence,  there  will  always  be  in  every  fac- 
ulty men  who  are  indolent  and  selfish  and  given 
over  to  eye-service  or  lip-service  only,  and  indif- 
ferent, even  if  not  downright  dishonest.     All  of 
which  simply  means  that,  though  quite  up  to  the 
average  of  other  classes  and  callings  —  probably 


146     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

even  somewhat  superior  to  these  —  college  profes« 
sors  are  human,  sometimes  intensely  human,  not 
infrequently  even  disagreeably  human.  But  it 
is  generally  true  that  every  faculty  possesses  at 
least  a  few  men  who  are  vigorous,  and  full  of  fire 
and  movement,  men  who  have  snap  and  go  in 
them,  men  who  can  command  the  attention  and 
respect  of  every  man  in  the  class  room,  who  in- 
spire and  quicken  into  new  life,  and  who  hold 
till  their  last  hour  the  warm  interest  and  affec- 
tionate regard  of  all  so  fortunate  as  to  sit  under 
their  instruction.  The  elective  system  enables 
you  surely  to  get  a  taste  of  such  a  man,  to  move 
in  his  atmosphere  for  a  little  while  at  least,  to 
feel  the  effect  of  his  electric  currents,  to  know 
the  thrill  and  uplift  which  come  from  daily  asso- 
ciation with  such  a  character.  It  does  not  matter 
much  what  he  teaches  —  elect  it,  in  order  that  you 
may  be  able  to  elect  him  ;  and  you  will  never 
regret  your  choice.  Men  are  more  valuable  than 
subjects,  and  inspiration  is  far  above  information. 
The  very  best  feature  of  the  elective  system, 
then,  is  that  you  may  consciously  and  intelli- 
gently choose  the  instruction  and  companionship 
of  such  a  man. 


IX 

The  Choice  of  Life- Work 

I  once  thought  that  there  could  never  be  a 
period  of  my  own  life  in  which  there  would  come 
more  restlessness,  more  anxiety,  more  uncertainty, 
a  keener  sense  of  general  ignorance  and  inade- 
quacy, than  were  experienced  during  the  last  half 
of  my  senior  year  in  college.  What  I  was  pre- 
pared to  do,  what  I  really  desired  to  do,  how  I 
should  go  about  it,  what  was  to  be  the  first  step, 
where  I  should  begin  life,  how  I  could  earn  my 
first  dollar,  under  what  circumstances  I  could  be 
sure  of  earning  it  at  all  :  these  questions  tor- 
mented me,  by  night  and  by  day.  To  pass  by  a 
single"  step,  almost  in  a  single  day,  from  depend- 
ence to  self-support,  from  a  comfortable  and  as- 
sured allowance  to  absolute  uncertainty  as  to  how 
the  necessary  expenses  of  the  first  week  should  be 
met  (without  turning  again  to  the  generosity 
which  had  marked  all  the  past)  ;  to  feel  that  one 

147 


148     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

simply  must  decide,  must  do  something,  and  still 
not  to  know  what  :  all  this,  and  more  than  need 
be  written  here,  made  life  a  burden  indeed.  All 
this  has  been  kept  very  fresh  in  memory  by  living 
it  all  over  again,  year  after  year,  with  seniors 
who  have  come  to  me  with  their  difficulties  and 
perplexities,  hoping  and  begging  for  some  word 
of  advice  or  some  bit  of  experience  which  would 
bring  them  light ;  not  infrequently  even  seeking 
to  relieve  themselves  of  all  responsibility  by  say- 
ing, "I  will  do  whatever  you  say." 

But,  fortunately  rather  than  unfortunately, 
this  may  never  be  finally  decided  by  any  one  but 
yourself,  without  grave  danger  of  grave  error. 
You  may  and  ought  to  seek  advice,  to  benefit 
by  the  experience  of  others,  and  be  determined 
largely  by  conditions  which  are  not  all  of  your 
own  making.  Never  for  a  moment  believe  that 
you  are  to  be  the  mere  creature  of  these  condi- 
tions, that  you  cannot  master  them,  that  they  are 
to  dominate  your  entire  existence.  Your  educa- 
tion has  wrought  but  little  within  you  if  you  have 
not  a  very  clear  sense  of  your  ability  finally  to 
overcome  all  ordinary  obstacles,  to  break  all  ordi- 
nary bonds,  to  secure  a  very  large  and  reasonable 


The   Choice  of  Life  -  Work  14$ 

freedom.  But  in  all  this  it  is  your  own  person- 
ality, your  own  individuality,  which  is  to  come  to 
the  surface  ;  you  are  to  be  the  master,  and  the 
final  choice  of  end  and  means  must  lie  with  you. 
There  are  two  temptations  which  will  come  to 
you,  surely  and  strongly  and  under  most  pleasing 
guise.  One  will  be  to  find  some  way  of  remain- 
ing for  a  while  under  the  grateful  shadow  of  your 
alma  mater.  Four  years  have  given  you  such  a 
home  feeling  there,  life  is  so  enjoyable,  your  room 
at  the  "  frat.  house  "  is  such  a  delightful  den,  you 
have  such  warm  friends  in  the  lower  classes  and 
among  the  faculty  and  in  the  town,  your  favorite 
instructor  offers  you  a  place  in  his  department 
with  the  suggestion  that  you  can  continue  one  or 
more  of  the  studies  which  have  most  interested 
you ;  the  recognition  touches  both  your  pride 
and  your  gratitude  —  and  above  all  the  decision 
of  the  great  perplexing  question  is  at  least  de- 
ferred to  a  more  convenient  season,  and  your 
mind  is  temporarily  at  rest.  Always  noting  the 
necessary  and  acknowledged  exceptions  to  every 
rule — but  beware  that  you  do  not  too  quickly  de- 
termine that  you  are  an  exception  !  —  I  hope  you 
will  not  yield  to  this  temptation.     Four  years  in 


150     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

one  educational  institution,  under  the  influence 
of  one  set  of  men,  in  one  atmosphere,  are  quite 
enough.  It  is  time  you  breathed  some  fresh  air, 
saw  everything  from  a  different  standpoint, 
moved  over  to  another  position  on  the  firing  line, 
but  always  on  the  firing  line !  Many  wise  and 
experienced  educators  think  that  there  is  a  de- 
cided advantage  in  carrying  freshman  and  sopho- 
more work  in  one  college,  and  junior  and  senior 
work  in  another.  Nearly  all  agree  that  the 
Master's  and  Doctor's  degrees  ought  to  be  sought 
elsewhere  than  in  the  institution  which  makes 
you  a  Bachelor  of  Arts.  The  conditions  which 
lead  to  this  decision  are  precisely  those  which 
have  even  greater  force  in  determining  that  it  is 
not  wise  for  you  to  accept  employment  in  your 
college  immediately  after  graduation.  Win  your 
spurs  on  another  field,  and  come  back  to  your 
alma  mater  later,  to  confer  a  larger  benefit  by 
reason  of  years  of  experience  and  observation  in 
a  larger  world.  If  you  enter  the  ranks  of  her 
workers  in  any  other  spirit  or  under  any  other 
conditions,  all  the  chances  are  that  the  college 
will  be  perpetually  carrying  you  instead  of  you 
carrying  the  college  ;  that  you  will  either  grow 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  151 

strong  very  slowly,  or  that  you  will  even  grow 
weaker  ;  that  your  narrow  rut  will  soon  be  so 
deep  that  all  hope  of  your  seeing  over  the  top  of 
it  will  be  gone  ;  that  you  will  lean  up  against 
this  dear  nourishing  mother  so  long  and  so  hard 
that  you  will  finally  lose  the  use  of  your  legs. 
This  is  a  withholding  that  is  a  scattering  abroad, 
and  it  is  as  selfish  as  it  is  weak.  True  it  is  that 
you  can  grow  into  experience  only  by  and 
through  experience,  and  that  you  will  doubtless 
gain  experience  at  the  cost  of  another  ;  but  do 
not  let  it  be  at  the  cost  of  your  mother  ! 

The  second  temptation  will  be  to  enter  into  the 
business  world  or  upon  professional  life  in  connec- 
tion with  your  father,  or  with  some  near  relative 
who  has  a  place  ready  for  you  or  whose  interest 
in  your  future  prompts  him  to  create  a  place  for 
you.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  one  should 
advise  you  against  accepting  such  a  position,  yet 
this  advice  would  certainly  be  sound  and  timely. 
If  the  place  is  simply  one  of  many,  in  some  or- 
ganization necessarily  so  large  as  to  overshadow 
parental  influence,  except  as  the  latter  may  open 
the  door  to  opportunity  ;  and  if  you  are  not  to 
be  immediately  under  parental  control,  but  are  to 


152     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

stand  or  fall  absolutely  by  your  own  merit  —  that 
is  another  matter.  It  is  surely  a  piece  of  good 
fortune,  not  to  be  ignored,  that  you  may  so  im- 
mediately find  an  opening  for  your  activity  and 
for  your  ambition ;  and  it  is  entirely  proper  that 
you  should  rejoice  in  this  good  fortune  and  use  it 
wisely  in  furthering  your  interests.  But  direct 
and  close  connection  with  your  father,  in  the 
usual  way  and  in  the  ordinary  business  or  pro- 
fessional relations,  will  surely  be  dangerous, 
unless  both  of  you  are  remarkable  men.  It  is 
simply  impossible  for  the  average  father  to  treat 
his  son  as  he  would  treat  any  other  employee, 
holding  him  to  account  for  his  absence,  his  tardi- 
ness, his  slow  pace,  his  delays,  his  carelessness, 
his  blunders,  with  the  same  rigidity  and  inflexi- 
bility which  mark  his  dealings  with  all  other 
subordinates.  And  it  is  equally  impossible  for 
you  to  feel  toward  your  father  as  you  would 
feel  toward  the  average  employer  ;  and  to  hesi- 
tate just  as  much  and  just  as  often  about  asking 
special  favors,  or  making  slight  inroads  upon 
office  rules  and  custom.  Yet  much  of  your 
future  success  will  be  determined  by  the  dis- 
cipline of  these  first  few  years,  and  you  ought  to 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  158 

be  so  situated  that  the  proper  penalty  will  fall 
swift  and  sure,  and  that  you  will  feel  yourself 
under  practically  inexorable  law.  If  you  once 
settle  the  question  of  punctuality,  for  example, 
in  favor  of  a  "  margin  of  fifteen  minutes," 
incalculable  harm  is  done,  injury  from  which  you 
will  recover  with  great  difficulty,  if  you  ever 
recover  at  all.  Further,  under  your  father's  im- 
mediate supervision  you  will  rarely  have  the 
same  opportunity  to  develop  your  judgment  by 
use  as  would  come  to  you  under  the  supervision 
of  another.  To  him  you  are  ever  and  always  a 
boy.  He  does  not  realize,  perhaps  he  cannot 
realize,  that  you  have  come  to  man's  estate.  It 
never  occurs  to  him  to  consult  you,  to  defer  to 
you  would  seem  absurd.  It  is  another  instance 
of  the  familiarity  which  breeds  contempt,  of  the 
prophet  without  honor  in  his  own  house.  On 
your  part,  it  would  seem  strange  to  question 
your  father's  judgment  or  to  seek  to  change  his 
purpose  or  plan.  All  this  is  exceedingly  natural. 
For  years,  in  fact  all  your  life,  you  have  been 
deferential  to  him,  you  have  leaned  upon  him, 
you  have  accepted  his  judgment  and  you  have 
conformed    your    plans   to   his    wishes ;    in    the 


154     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

largest  and  best  sense  of  the  word,  you  have 
been  one  of  his  dependents.  In  the  very  nature 
of  things,  neither  of  you  can  at  once  and  com- 
pletely change  these  conditions,  nor  is  it  alto- 
gether necessary  or  desirable  that  they  should 
entirely  cease.  You  ought  to  feel  that  he  is  still 
your  kindest  counsellor,  and  wise  (perhaps  not 
the  wisest)  adviser ;  but  to  be  most  effective  and 
satisfactory  and  least  harmful,  this  relation 
should  be  neither  commingled  nor  confused  with 
other  relations.  Come  back  to  your  father's 
bank,  or  factory,  or  corporation,  or  professional 
practice,  after  a  while  —  preferably  after  a  long 
while  —  when  you  have  had  time  to  prove  to  the 
world  the  stuff  of  which  you  are  made,  when  the 
world  has  given  you  such  clear  and  complete 
recognition  that  every  one  knows  that  your 
return  will  add  strength  to  the  management, 
skill  and  reputation  to  the  practice,  success  to 
the  enterprise.  Of  course,  if  for  any  reason  your 
father  wishes  or  is  compelled  practically  and 
openly  to  withdraw  from  care  of  his  business,  or 
from  a  very  definite  portion  of  it,  you  may 
safely  return  sooner. 

Otherwise   wait,  and  work  elsewhere.     Other- 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  155 

wise  not  only  will  your  strength  and  experience 
grow  slowly  under  the  deadly  shade  of  your 
father's  reputation  and  personality,  but  your  own 
good  name  will  increase  even  less.  The  world 
gives  hasty  judgment,  it  must  do  so,  it  cannot  pos- 
sibly stop  to  analyze  closely,  it  must  determine 
rather  superficially ;  but  the  world  long  since 
determined  that  when  a  son  allies  himself  with  his 
father,  who  is  already  successful  and  of  good 
standing,  the  rule  is  that  if  either  folly  or  dis- 
aster appear  in  the  future  management  it  is 
because  the  father  trusted  too  much  to  the  son  ; 
whereas  if  prosperity  continues,  it  is  simply 
because  of  the  father's  strength  and  power.  You 
will  never  receive  recognition  for  what  you 
accomplish  ;  success  will  always  be  passed  to  your 
father's  credit  account.  But  failure  will  always 
be  charged  to  you. 

Strike  out  for  yourself,  then. 

About  the  older  professions  it  is  not  necessary 
that  much  be  said  here,  except  to  call  your  atten- 
tion quite  sharply  to  one  great  distinction  between 
the  practice  of  law  and  of  medicine,  and  preach- 
ing and  teaching, — a  distinction  which  may  have 
part  of  its  force  in  the  fact  that  the  last  two  are 


156     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

salaried  professions,  in  which  you  advance  more 
quickly  to  reasonable  competence  than  you  do  in 
the  first  two.  You  must  wait  a  long  time  for 
recognition  and  work  very  hard,  as  either  lawyer 
or  doctor  ;  but  at  forty-five  years  of  age  you  are 
in  your  professional  prime,  and  the  great  suc- 
cesses of  your  life  are  to  come  in  the  next  twenty 
years,  decline  not  becoming  apparent  before  your 
sixty-fifth  year.  But  as  a  teacher  or  preacher,  in 
a  certain  sense  your  prospects  grow  dim  from 
your  forty-fifth  year  on  ;  the  dead  line  of  fifty  is 
soon  reached,  and  after  that  you  are  in  perpetual 
danger.  Younger  men,  trained  by  better  methods 
in  later  schools  of  thought  and  practice,  are  press- 
ing hard  upon  your  heels  ;  your  own  income  has 
been  too  meagre  for  you  to  do  all  you  ought  in 
the  matter  of  keeping  touch  with  the  world ; 
your  freshness  is  departing,  and  this  means  a  dis- 
tinct loss  in  efficiency  and  power  ;  and  public 
sentiment  has  already  so  crystallized  that,  while 
you  may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  retain  a  place  for 
many  years  above  fifty,  you  will  rarely  be  called 
to  a  new  position  after  you  have  passed  that  age, 
and  still  less  often  will  you  be  put  on  your  feet  if 
you   happen  to   fall  after  you  have  reached  that 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  157 

age.  I  am  not  undertaking  to  turn  you  either 
toward  one  profession  or  away  from  another,  but 
you  ought  to  know  the  fact  just  stated. 

Having  written  this,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
after  all  for  me  to  add  a  few  sentences  of  sugges- 
tion —  scarcely  more  than  suggestion  —  concern- 
ing these  same  old  honored  callings.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  in  all  four  there  is  an  increasing 
demand  for  administrative  skill  and  executive 
ability.  The  foremost  lawyers  of  our  day  are 
often  little  more  than  high-grade  advisers  in 
business  affairs,  —  a  statement  peculiarly  true  of 
the  renowned  corporation  lawyers.  The  most 
successful  ministers  are  those  who  know  how  to 
organize,  how  to  set  machinery  in  motion,  how  to 
bring  things  to  pass.  The  educational  world  still 
longs  for  men  who  can  successfully  supervise  the 
schools  of  a  city  or  the  departments  of  a  college 
or  university.  The  general  practitioner  of  medi- 
cine is  more  nearly  independent  and  self-centred 
than  the  others  ;  and  it  is  probably  more  true  of 
him  than  of  the  others  that  he  works  alone,  and 
not  very  far  from  old  lines  —  though  the  advance 
in  surgery  is  quite  as  great  as,  say,  that  in  electri- 
cal engineering.     The   result  of   all  this  is  both 


158     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

the  need  and  the  development  of  quite  a  new  set 
of  qualities  as  the  condition  of  success.  You  must 
examine  yourself  carefully,  in  the  light  of  the 
new  demand,  before  you  enter  upon  the  old  pro- 
fessions with  hope  of  success. 

In  the  practice  of  your  profession  you  will 
doubtless  be  called  upon  to  determine  between 
the  city  and  the  country  town  or  village.  In  the 
city  you  will  wait  longer  for  recognition,  but  you 
will  climb  higher  in  the  end.  If  you  wish  to  be 
immediately  known,  and  if  you  desire  a  reason- 
able income  within  an  unreasonable  time,  then  the 
county  seat  or  small  town  is  to  be  chosen.  You 
should  always  remember,  however,  that  acquaint- 
ance is  to  a  professional  man  precisely  what 
goods  are  to  a  merchant  —  his  stock  in  trade  ; 
and  that  the  greater  part  of  this  you  must  throw 
away  if  you  change  your  residence.  Recognizing 
this,  many  professional  men  —  possibly  most  pro- 
fessional men  —  do  not  change  their  residence. 
Having  begun  their  work  in  the  small  town,  they 
stick  there.  At  least,  there  is  danger  of  this. 
The  larger  life,  the  larger  professional  life,  of  the 
city,  is  an  education  in  itself,  and  a  great  stimulus. 
It  is  positively  of  more  value  to  be   beaten  in  a 


The  Choice  of  Life  -  Work  159 

hard  fight  by  an  opponent  of  marked  ability  and 
recognized  standing,  than  to  win  an  easy  victory 
from  some  pin-headed  pettifogger ;  and  if  you 
happen  to  win  in  the  more  worthy  contest,  the 
results  of  the  struggle  are  immediate  and  gratify- 
ing. Rewards  are  generally  quite  commensurate 
with  responsibility,  and  no  great  returns  can  be 
made  in  either  money  or  fame  to  the  young  advo- 
cate who  is  known  only  as  "  a  rising  young  cow 
lawyer."  I  know  it  is  often  said  that  it  is  better 
to  be  the  head  of  a  mouse  than  the  tail  of  a  lion, 
the  soundness  of  which  doctrine  is  surely  debat- 
able. The  tail  of  the  lion  has  definite  even  though 
somewhat  remote  connection  with  a  very  majestic 
and  very  powerful  animal ;  and  it  is  certainly 
quite  as  worthy  to  listen  appreciatively  to  a 
kingly  roar  in  God's  open  forest  as  to  squeak 
and  gibber  in  the  corner  of  some  dark  and  un- 
savory closet. 

Yet  I  would  not  have  you  construe  this  into 
a  criticism  adverse  to  life  outside  of  the  city. 
If  you  are  to  work  to  live  rather  than  live  to 
work,  if  you  desire  many  leisure  hours  in  the 
midst  of  surroundings  which  tend  to  quiet 
nerves  and  calm  thoughts,  and  much  serene  en- 


160      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

joyment  of  existence,  then  you  will  avoid  the 
metropolis.  Some  of  the  most  delightful  rela- 
tions known  between  men  have  been  those  unit- 
ing a  country  lawyer,  a  country  doctor,  a  country 
pastor,  or  a  country  teacher  with  his  people. 
Some  of  the  most  enduring  and  ennobling  friend- 
ships have  arisen  in  this  way.  Passing  years 
have  not  weakened  these  bonds ;  the  circle  of 
influence  has  extended  wider  and  yet  wider, 
year  after  year  ;  the  service  rendered  has  always 
and  more  and  more  overshadowed  the  mere 
money  return  made  for  the  same  ;  a  ripe  old 
age  has  been  crowned  with  affectionate  interest 
and  tender  solicitude  ;  and  death  has  found  the 
entire  community  bereaved  and  sorrowing,  and 
the  little  children  crying  in  the  village  street. 
That  is  a  life  worth  living  and  a  reward  worth 
seeking,  if  your  heart  is  warm  enough  and  your 
brain  is  sane  enough  and  your  whole  stature  is 
large  enough  to  tempt  you  to  try  to  fill  such 
a  place. 

Fortunately  a  college-bred  man  is  no  longer 
shut  in  to  the  four  old-time  professions.  With 
all  their  honor  and  length  of  days,  these  now 
have  sharp  competitors  —  callings  which  honor  as 


The   Choice  of  Life -Work  161 

surely  and  reward  even  more  lavishly.  Engi- 
neering in  all  its  phases  —  electrical,  mechanical, 
civil,  mining,  sanitary,  marine  —  is  a  remarkable 
illustration  of  the  rapid  rise  of  a  new  profession 
to  a  position  of  the  greatest  dignity  and  power. 
Architecture  is  side  by  side  with  this,  healthy 
in  rivalry  and  hearty  in  cooperation.  Landscape 
gardening  lags  but  a  little  in  the  rear,  and  for- 
estry is  beginning  to  attract  attention.  Even 
art  and  music  are  more  commanding  than  in 
earlier  years  ;  better,  perhaps,  are  reverting  to 
their  earlier  and  worthier  position.  In  all  these 
directions  is  opportunity,  incentive,  promise, 
appreciation,  honor,  and  more  than  competence. 
All  these  differ  from  the  older  professions  in 
this  at  least,  that  there  is  room  and  demand 
for  great  ingenuity,  for  invention,  for  contriv- 
ance ;  a  constant  temptation  toward  original 
investigation  and  research.  With  the  older  call- 
ings movement  is  along  regular  lines,  long  since 
determined  and  settled  ;  with  the  new,  every- 
thing is  unsettled,  except  a  very  few  funda- 
mental propositions.  There  is  peculiar  room 
for  individuality,  for  audacity,  for  freshness 
of   thought  as  well   as   vigor   of   thinking.     We 

M 


162     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

sometimes  hear  of  our  remarkable  mastery  of 
the  powers  of  earth  and  air.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  we  have  scarcely  begun  such  mastery,  we 
have  hardly  gone  beyond  the  initial  discovery. 
At  midnight  of  the  last  day  of  the  last  century 
we  were  all  exclaiming  that  the  coming  century 
could  bring  us  no  such  marvellous  advance  as 
the  last  had  seen  ;  but  the  very  first  week  of 
the  new  year  told  us  of  the  possibility  of  dis- 
tinct and  inexpensive  telephone  communication 
with  England  and  with  the  Continent,  and  as- 
sured us  that  wireless  telegraphy  is  a  success. 
This  is  but  one  of  the  many  illustrations  of  the 
vastness  of  the  unexplored  fields  immediately 
about  us,  waiting  for  men  of  fine  training  and 
even  finer  temper  and  ambition.  There  was 
never  greater  opportunity  for  a  young  man  than 
now. 

Much  the  same  demand  comes  from  the  world 
of  commerce  and  from  the  world  of  production. 
These  words  are  written  while  the  cvy  for  or- 
ganization, and  the  creation  of  organizations, 
are  unprecedented  in  the  world's  history.  Never 
has  there  been  such  imperative  need  of  clear- 
brained,    large-minded    men,  —  resourceful    men, 


The  Choice  of  Life  -  Work  163 

men  preeminently  of  the  hour  and  for  the 
emergency,  men  who  can  show  the  results  of 
the  highest  training,  men  who  have  responded 
to  every  opportunity,  and  therefore  can  be  trusted 
to  answer  to  this  call.  The  door  to  successful 
life  and  to  large  renown  is  no  longer  the  four- 
leaved  portal  ;  that  were  far  too  narrow,  far 
too  small.  It  is  a  series  of  uplifting  and  many- 
folding  doors,  opening  out  on  all  sides  of  this 
central  tower,  and  leading  direct  to  every  part 
of  the  field  of  active  life.  There  is  no  direc- 
tion which  the  college-bred  man  may  not  take 
with  little  fear  of  failure,  with  reasonable  assur- 
ance of  success.  There  is  no  reason,  therefore, 
for  long  hesitation  on  your  part,  unless  it  be 
because  of  the  very  plentitude  of  your  riches 
in  opportunity  and  in  right  of  way.  It  is  en- 
tirely true  that  over-organization  tends  to  lessen 
individualism  and  to  weaken  personal  endeavor; 
but  this  tendency  is  found  in  over-organization 
only,  and  generally  may  be  trusted  to  correct 
itself.  The  unquestioned  fact  is  that  when  com- 
mercial or  productive  ventures  were  so  conducted 
that  the  element  of  venture  was  almost  elimi- 
nated, when  a  man  was  able  to    look    after    his 


164     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

own  affairs  in  detail  and  knew  every  night 
exactly  the  condition  of  his  entire  business, 
there  was  far  less  need  of  assistants  with  experi- 
ence, judgment,  foresight,  ingenuity,  absolute 
integrity  and  faithfulness,  than  there  is  to-day, 
with  organizations  doing  business  in  all  states 
of  the  Union,  and  in  several  foreign  countries 
besides.  Take,  as  a  very  fair  illustration  of  my 
meaning,  the  old-time  carriage  or  wagon  maker. 
He  secured  his  timber  from  his  neighbors,  and 
seasoned  it  himself.  The  metal  portions  were 
all  fashioned  in  his  own  shop.  The  leathers 
were  put  on  in  the  same  village,  if  not  by  his 
own  workmen.  The  master  worked  at  the 
bench,  in  the  forge,  or  in  his  office,  side  by  side 
with  his  workmen,  who  were  few  in  number. 
They  had  all  grown  up  together  in  the  same  com- 
munity, had  attended  the  same  school,  had  sat 
in  the  same  church,  had  discussed  township  and 
state  and  national  affairs  in  the  same  country 
store,  and  had  voted  public  offices  upon  each 
other  and  rather  unwilling  neighbors  in  the  same 
town  meeting.  Each  knew  the  wages  and  the 
hours  of  the  other,  each  knew  the  cost  of  raw 
material,  each  knew  the  results  of  a  day's  work. 


The   Choice  of  Life  -  Work  165 

The  product  of  this  joint  industry  was  sold  at 
the  shop  door,  and  then  each  knew  what  was 
his  fair  share  of  the  price.  You  can  easily  see 
that  there  was  one  man  and  one  mind  directing 
all  and  practically  responsible  for  all  ;  and  that 
while  personal  relations  between  master  and 
workman  were  perhaps  more  close  and  intimate 
than  now,  of  the  workman  there  was  little 
asked  except  industry  and  faithfulness  with  daily 
tasks,  and  there  was  absolutely  no  intermediary. 
But  now  the  carriage-shop  has  become  the  factory, 
and  involves  business  relations  covering  a  large 
territory,  relations  which  cannot  be  maintained 
without  dividing  responsibility  between  many 
persons.  Perhaps  the  spokes  will  come  from 
Maine,  the  felloes  from  Wisconsin,  the  hubs 
from  Kentucky,  the  tire  from  Pennsylvania,  the 
bolts  from  Sweden,  the  box  (in  the  white)  from 
New  York,  the  dash  and  the  top  from  Ohio, 
and  so  on  through  the  list.  The  finished  prod- 
ucts will  be  sold  in  a  hundred  markets,  for  cash 
and  on  time  ;  and  credits  will  be  a  factor  in 
the  entire  transaction,  from  start  to  finish.  But 
this  work  supplants  the  old-time  owner  and  his 
personal    activity    and    vigilance,    with    all    the 


166      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

hired  employees  and  intermediaries  of  modern  or- 
ganization, of  a  modern  corporation.  Superintend- 
ents, foremen,  clerks,  agents,  accountants,  cashiers 
buyers,  sellers,  inspectors  —  all  these  are  at  once 
in  demand,  and  multiply  as  the  business  enlarges. 
Add  to  these  the  increased  service  with  the 
mails,  the  telegraph,  and  the  telephone ;  the 
transportation  of  persons  and  freight  by  land 
and  by  water  ;  the  increasing  bank  facilities ; 
and  the  many  other  points  in  the  modern  busi- 
ness world  at  which  growth  in  one  form  aug- 
ments business  of  every  form,  and  then  multiply 
all  this,  not  by  the  greater  number  of  carriage 
and  wagon  makers,  but  by  the  multitudinous 
enterprises  of  this  day  and  age,  and  you  will 
get  some  notion,  though  still  an  inadequate 
notion,  of  the  increased  demand  for  men  and 
service  in  every  conceivable  direction,  between 
the  rank  and  file  and  the  great  captains  of 
industry. 

All  of  this  vast  field  is  open  to  college-bred 
men,  as  to  others  ;  and  at  least  three-quarters  of 
it  is  open  to  college-bred  men  as  to  no  others. 
Not  that  there  are  so  many  opportunities  for  you 
to  make  direct  use  of  Latin  or  French  or  higher 


The   Choice  of  Life -Work  167 

mathematics  or  philosophy  or  history  or  litera- 
ture; but  that  there  is  a  special  demand  for  the 
trained  mind,  the  keener  perceptions,  the  more 
accurate  thinking,  the  greater  power  of  concen- 
tration, and  the  larger  vision, — all  of  which  ought 
to  have  come  to  you  with  and  from  your  college 
life.  And  for  the  men  with  such  qualities  and 
powers,  promotion  is  sure  and  rapid. -In  all  this, 
and  in  enlarged  freedom  of  choic$(  you  are  far 
in  advance  of  those  graduates  who  even  fifty 
years  ago  faced  the  outer  world  for  the  first 
time,  as  you  are  facing  it  to-day. 

Not  only  has  there  come  this  larger  outlook  in 
the  new  professions  and  in  commerce  and  in  pro- 
duction, but  the  territory  has  been  wonderfully 
extended  geographically  ;  and  this  in  itself  neces- 
sarily means  increased  opportunity.  Roughly 
speaking,  there  are  open  to  your  choice  the  three 
great  divisions  of  your  own  country,  and  the 
scarcely  greater  outside  world.  The  more  strik- 
ing characteristics  of  each,  those  which  at  once 
appeal  to  a  young  and  untried  man,  are  these  :  — 

The  East  is  still  a  land  of  traditions,  prece- 
dents, conventionality.  The  currents  of  all  life 
run  in  more  set  and   determined   channels,  with 


168     The  College  Student  and  Hi»  Problems 

banks  high  enough  to  prevent  any  sudden  over- 
flow. If  you  have  family  prestige,  or  available 
inheritance  of  any  sort,  it  will  not  take  you  long 
to  get  on  your  feet ;  precisely  as  you  can  always 
borrow  money  if  you  can  put  up  gilt-edged  se- 
curity. But  the  prevailing  attitude  will  be  that 
you  are  not  to  be  deemed  successful  until  you 
have  proven  your  case  beyond  peradventure  ; 
and  that  you  are  always  and  everywhere  handi- 
capped by  your  youth.  Great  enterprises  and  gray 
hair  go  together,  if  safety  and  dignity  and  general 
respectability  are  to  be  considered  and  conserved. 
The  largest  money  resources,  the  greatest  amount 
of  available  wealth,  are  still  in  the  East  ;  and 
these  are  always  conservative.  Nothing  will  look 
after  itself  more  carefully  and  more  cautiously 
and  more  successfully  than  a  dollar,  unless  it  be 
two  dollars  ;  and  the  dollars  are  still  near  the 
eastern  seaboard.  Generally  speaking,  therefore, 
you  will  find  the  start  more  difficult  along  the 
Atlantic  coast.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  more 
here  "to  do  with  "  —  as  the  phrase  goes  —  when 
you  are  once  fairly  under  way.  In  law,  medi- 
cine, and  theology,  and  in  trade  and  commerce, 
it   is  undoubtedly   true   that   most   of   the  great 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  169 

prizes  are  still  east  of  the  Alleghanies.  Great 
undertakings  have  their  origin  here;  you  are  at 
the  beginning  of  things,  you  are  brought  face 
to  face  with  men  of  world-wide  reputation.  If 
you  can  succeed  here,  in  the  service  of  such  men 
first  and  in  competition  with  them  afterward, 
you  win  marked  success,  you  rise  rapidly,  and 
you  will  doubtless  touch  a  much  higher  mark. 
But  it  will  take  time  ;  and  before  you  win,  you 
may  fancy  that  it  is  time  but  slightly  differen- 
tiated from  eternity. 

The  West  has  more  freedom  of  movement,  and 
grants  more  ready  recognition.  Its  life  is  still 
something  like  that  of  the  colonies,  where  there 
is  necessarily  large  equality  in  origin  and  re- 
sources. These  people  feel  that  they  have  much 
to  do  for  themselves  that  has  been  accomplished 
already  in  and  for  the  East  by  past  generations  ; 
and  they  are  not  so  very  particular  as  to  who 
does  it,  or  as  to  how  it  is  done  —  provided  only 
that  it  is  done.  Accomplishment  rather  than  in- 
strumentality, ends  rather  than  means,  results 
rather  than  methods  :  this  is  their  spirit.  Their 
inquiry  of  a  young  man  is,  What  can  you  do,  and 
do  right   now,  and  do  for  this  community  ?     In 


170     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

their  social  life,  as  in  their  business  relations, 
they  presume  a  man  worthy  until  he  shows  that 
he  is  not.  This  is  absolutely  necessary  in  a 
community  in  which  no  one  has  yet  been  born, 
though  all  are  newcomers ;  and  the  necessity  of 
the  earlier  life  remains  the  tradition  or  the  cus- 
tom of  the  latter.  In  the  beginning  the  work  to 
be  done  far  outran  the  available  workers,  and 
so  every  one  was  pressed  into  service.  This 
necessarily  meant  much  hasty  work,  some  poor 
work,  some  dishonest  work,  some  work  which 
must  be  done  over  again  ;  and  all  this  involved 
more  or  less  loss.  But  it  was  not  so  much  a 
question  of  correct  taste  in  architecture,  of  dura- 
bility of  material,  and  of  excellence  of  work- 
manship, as  of  securing  immediate  shelter  ;  and 
this  figure  may  illustrate  the  conditions  in  every 
form  of  life  and  activity.  Much  of  all  this  re- 
mains to  this  day,  both  for  good  and  for  evil, 
though  the  evil  is  rapidly  and  inevitably  giving 
way  to  the  good.  If  you  wish  to  be  accepted  at 
once,  upon  presumptive  merit,  without  much 
reference  to  your  ancestors  and  with  very  little 
inquiry  as  to  your  pedigree,  go  West.  It  is  a 
country  whose   leisure   class  is  almost  wholly  in 


The   Choice  of  Life -Work  171 

the  penitentiary  or  by  the  roadside  ;  and  it  still 
has  a  place  and  a  recognition  for  the  energetic, 
for  the  active,  for  the  ambitious,  for  the  well- 
equipped  young  man.  It  is  an  especially  good 
field  within  which  to  practise  the  newer  profes- 
sions to  which  reference  has  already  been  made. 
In  the  South  is  even  greater  conservatism 
than  in  the  East ;  yet  warmth,  cordiality,  courte- 
ousness  —  sincere,  simple,  and  from  the  heart. 
Its  traditions  are  grounded  upon  a  rock,  and 
its  people  turn  very  slowly  from  the  old  to  the 
new,  largely  because  they  honestly  prefer  the 
old  rather  than  the  new.  They  feel  that  there 
is  something  in  life  besides  hurry  and  stress  and 
strain,  and  better  than  these.  They  are  not  at 
all  anxious  to  be  strenuous,  the  clang  of  the 
murderously  swift  trolley  car  is  not  sweet  music 
to  their  ears.  They  do  not  care  to  hear  the 
telephone  dinning  every  five  minutes  of  the  day  ; 
they  are  still  willing  to  walk  quietly  to  a  neigh- 
bor's house  or  office  to  deliver  a  message  in  person  ; 
they  still  write  letters  of  friendship  and  some 
business  letters  "  by  hand '  rather  than  on  the 
typewriter  ;  a  man  is  not  necessarily  set  down  as 
a  scoundrel  because  it  is  not  entirely  convenient 


172     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

for  him  to  pay  a  note  within  the  three  days  of 
grace  ;  and  a  sense  of  personal  honor  rather  than 
statutory  requirement  controls  all  business  re- 
lations and  transactions.  While  not  suspicious 
of  strangers,  they  are  in  no  hurry  to  open  the 
charmed  circle,  and  while  willing  to  advance 
they  have  no  desire  for  a  "boom."  To  a  young 
man  with  character  and  temperament  already 
somewhat  in  accord  with  the  existing  conditions 
there,  and  not  very  anxious  for  public  recog- 
nition or  to  get  rich,  the  South  presents  many 
attractions. 

You  will  understand,  of  course,  that  all  this 
is  but  a  rough  chalk-sketch  of  these  varying 
conditions.  The  distinctions  and  differences 
are  by  no  means  so  clearly  marked  as  even  ten 
years  ago,  and  lines  which  have  long  been  sharply 
drawn  are  now  fast  being  obliterated.  Kansas 
is  as  civilized  as  New  York,  Minnesota  and 
Wisconsin  are  as  attractive  as  New  England, 
St.  Louis  has  as  sound  business  methods  as 
Philadelphia,  Chicago  is  developing  a  social  and 
literary  and  artistic  life  which  will  place  it  side 
by  side  with  Boston,  there  is  a  great  commer- 
cial   outlook    for    New    Orleans,    and    an    equal 


The  Choice  of  Life -Work  173 

promise  for  manufacturing  and  mining  in  the 
middle  southern  states.  You  will  find  men  of 
ability,  of  sound  education  and  training,  of  in- 
dustry, of  ambition,  wherever  you  go.  There 
is  no  more  dearth  of  good  timber  in  the  West 
and  South  than  there  is  in  the  East,  there  is  no 
more  overcrowding  in  commercial  lines  in  New 
York  than  there  is  in  Kansas  City  or  in  St.  Paul. 
If  you  go  in  any  direction  because  you  think 
that  you  are  more  necessary  there,  regardless 
of  your  positive  merit  and  effective  value,  you 
will  be  sadly  undeceived  in  the  first  week.  No 
section  of  this  country  is  longing  for  you,  the 
procession  of  advancing  civilization  has  not 
halted  by  the  roadside  for  you  to  appear  and 
take  the  lead,  no  one  is  waiting  for  you  anywhere. 
Whichever  way  you  turn,  you  must  be  prepared 
to  win  your  way.  Everywhere,  however,  there 
is  something  to  be  done.  If  you  can  do  it,  and 
do  it  well,  especially  if  you  can  do  it  better  than 
the  other  fellow  can,  your  success  is  assured. 

As  to  life  and  work  outside  of  this  country, 
in  our  new  possessions,  or  in  the  older  though 
not  less  friendly  lands,  that  is  a  question  of  vol- 
untary  exile,   of    practical    expatriation.       Even 


174     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

the  comparatively  short-term  positions  in  the 
civil  service  take  you  out  of  the  current  of 
American  life  long  enough  to  make  your  return 
difficult  indeed.  If  you  do  succeed  in  establish- 
ing the  statu  quo,  the  time  spent  abroad  is  almost 
wasted,  as  far  as  home  influence  and  prestige 
and  opportunity  are  concerned.  It  is  about  as 
fateful  as  it  is  for  a  young  lawyer  to  go  to  Con- 
gress, and  very  few  ever  entirely  recover  from 
that.  When  it  comes  to  a  settled  residence 
abroad  for  the  conduct  of  business  —  well,  noth- 
ing but  an  undue  desire  to  get  rich  could  possibly 
tempt  a  thoroughbred  American  to  do  that ;  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  a  thoroughbred 
American  will  not  yield  to  such  a  temptation 
except  as  an  emergency  demands  temporarily 
such  a  sacrifice.  This  is  to  recognize  such  resi- 
dence as  the  exception  to  the  normal,  and  as 
such  it  need  not  be  discussed. 

Do  you  complain  that  after  all  I  have  really 
told  you  nothing  definite,  nothing  in  detail,  about 
your  choice  of  life-work  ?  Nothing  definite, 
nothing  in  detail,  can  be  told  you.  When  you 
reach  the  discussion  of  details,  the  personal  ele- 
ment comes  in  as  the  controlling  factor ;  and  your 


The   Choice  of  Life  -  Work  175 

choice  will  be  finally  determined  entirely  by  your- 
self. All  any  one  ought  to  dare  to  do  is  to  give 
you  this  outline,  these  salient  features,  unless  it  be 
to  encourage  you  by  saying  that  there  is  really  no 
harm  whatever  in  your  trying  several  occupations, 
provided  that  you  are  thoroughly  settled  to  your 
life-work  by  your  thirtieth  year.  You  ought  to 
know  yourself  by  that  time,  and  you  will  probably 
discover  yourself  by  that  time  ;  but  up  to  that 
time  you  should  feel  both  independent  and  free. 
Coming  back  to  our  starting-point,  the  last 
term  of  your  senior  year  —  put  away  all  anxiety, 
keep  your  eyes  open,  use  your  friends  legitimately 
as  aids  to  opportunity,  never  forget  that  you  may 
find  a  place  by  luck  but  that  you  will  never  hold 
it  by  luck  ;  do  anything  honorable  rather  than  be 
idle,  and  do  that  which  is  nearest  your  hand,  and 
do  not  only  well  but  best.  If  this  is  in  your 
heart,  then  there  is  no  room  for  fear. 


A  Few  Last  Words 

As  I  turn  to  the  last  chapter  of  this  "  thin  book," 
it  is  with  just  a  natural  little  curiosity  as  to 
how  it  has  impressed  you,  what  you  have  received 
from  it  and  how  far  it  has  been  of  service  to  you, 
how  much  of  it  you  will  remember  after  you  have 
laid  it  aside,  how  much  of  it  you  can  and  will  put 
into  practice  —  yes,  with  even  a  little  curiosity  as 
to  whether  you  have  really  read  it  through. 
Whatever  may  be  its  faults,  however,  I  am  sure 
you  will  hold  me  blameless  on  one  count  at  least  — 
I  have  not  burdened  you  with  preachments.  Do 
not  turn  away,  therefore,  from  these  few  last 
words,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  aid  you,  if  pos- 
sible, in  determining  your  scheme    of   life. 

Every  man  must  have  a  more  or  less  definite 
thought  of  life  as  a  whole  —  and  it  should  be  more 
definite  rather  than  less,  —  of  what  life  ought  to 
mean  to  him,  of  what  he  may  reasonably  expect 

176 


A  Few  Last   Words  177 

from  it,  of  the  end  in  view  and  the  means  by 
which  to  reach  that  end  —  or  he  goes  blindly,  aim- 
lessly, hopelessly.  His  views  may  change,  doubt- 
less they  will  change,  as  to  many  details  ;  but  as 
early  as  possible  he  ought  to  determine  what 
fundamental  principles  he  will  accept  and  why  he 
accepts  them.  He  who  has  a  faith  in  his  own 
ultimate  success,  born  of  a  conviction  that  he  has 
thought  out  his  own  problem  to  an  approved  con- 
clusion, and  who  is  able  and  ready  to  give  a  reason 
for  the  faith  that  is  in  him,  is  in  no  serious  danger 
of  failure.  Indeed,  his  battles  are  already  quite 
half  fought  and  his  victory  quite  half  won. 

Whatever  you  may  hold  most  desirable,  most 
worthy  of  effort,  you  must  remember  that 
advancement  and  success  always  and  necessarily 
mean  increased  responsibility.  This  is  the  unfail- 
ing result  of  every  upward  step  which  you  take. 
There  is  no  possible  escape  from  this.  No  matter 
what  may  be  the  form  of  your  ambition  or  of 
your  activity,  all  growth  simply  means  heavier 
burdens  to  be  carried.  These  may  not  be  in- 
creasingly burdensome  —  that  is  another  matter  ; 
but  the  load  is  always  increasing.  If  you  desire 
more  patients,  or  more  clients,  or  a  larger  parish, 


178     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

or  a  full  chair  instead  of  an  assistant's  position, 
if  you  are  striving  to  enlarge  your  reputation  as 
an  engineer  or  as  an  architect  or  as  an  adminis- 
trator of  either  public  or  private  affairs,  it  is  all 
one  in  this  result  —  your  reward  will  be  ad- 
ditional responsibility.  It  is  as  though  the 
formula  of  atmospheric  pressure  were  reversed, 
the  pounds  per  square  inch  increasing  in  pro- 
portion to  the  elevation.  Even  mere  financial 
success  follows  the  same  rule ;  since  increase  of 
salary  is  necessarily  conditioned  upon  increased 
responsibility,  while  increase  of  income  must 
follow  increase  of  business,  which  means  increas- 
ing activity,  increasing  competition,  increasing 
risk,  increasing  care  and  anxiety  of  every  conceiv- 
able sort  and  in  every  conceivable  direction. 

And  this  increase  of  responsibility  is  always 
accompanied  by  increasingly  numerous  and  im- 
portant personal  relations.  You  are  necessarily 
more  and  more  dependent  upon  a  larger  and 
larger  number  of  persons,  and  the  exact  converse 
is  also  true  —  that  a  larger  and  larger  number  of 
persons  are  dependent  upon  you.  You  must 
satisfy  more  patrons,  if  trade  is  to  increase  ;  and 
more   and  more   employees  are  affected  by  your 


A  Few  Last  Words  179 

success  or  failure.  Many  a  captain  of  industry- 
finds  himself  in  precisely  the  position  of  an  hered- 
itary king ;  he  cannot  resign  and  withdraw  to 
private  life,  be  this  never  so  desirable.  He  has  so 
wrought  his  own  life  in  with  the  lives  of  others, 
the  common  interest  and  the  common  purpose 
have  so  completely  overshadowed  the  individual 
interest  of  each,  or  have  so  definitely  set  the 
individual  interest  of  each  in  the  swift  and  resist- 
less current  of  common  life,  that  they  may  never 
be  separated.  Many  a  man  has  continued  in 
business  long  after  it  has  ceased  to  be  profitable, 
or  after  he  desired  to  take  a  well-earned  rest,  be- 
cause he  felt  that  he  must  care  for  his  employees 
—  those  who  had  spent  the  best  part  of  their  lives 
in  his  service.  Many  a  physician  has  gone  with- 
out a  much  needed  vacation  because  he  could  not 
desert  his  patients.  Many  a  lawyer  has  toiled  far 
into  later  life  over  estates  which  would  not  be 
closed,  and  over  cases  which  could  not  be  brought 
either  to  trial  or  to   satisfactory  settlement. 

Success,  therefore,  inevitably  means  greater 
responsibility  and  more  important  and  more 
numerous  personal  relations.  Like  the  servant 
who  was  faithful  with  five  talents,  in  the  parable 


180     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

with  which  I  hope  you  are  acquainted,  your 
reward  is  not  retirement  on  the  pension  list, 
nor  selfish  gratification,  nor  idle  hours  at  play  — 
but  the  control  of  ten  cities  :  a  figure  of  speech 
which  expresses  the  very  highest  form  of  con- 
tinuous and  intelligent  activity.  It  logically 
follows  that  only  as  you  prepare  for  these  re- 
sponsibilities, only  as  you  show  yourself  to  be 
an  approved  burden-bearer,  can  you  possibly 
hope  for  success  that  is  worth  while.  This 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  profound  and 
philosophic  truth  of  the  Master's  saying,  "He 
who  would  be  greatest  among  you,  let  him  be 
the  servant  of  all."  Here  as  elsewhere  during 
your  life,  you  will  find  that  all  the  currents  of 
success  set  toward  the  truth  of  that  Master 
who  should  be  your  Master  and  friend. 

Your  scheme  of  life,  therefore,  ought  to 
recognize  the  place  and  value  and  power  of  the 
law  of  service.  Under  no  other  law  may  man 
hope  for  success  which  is  lasting  or  life  which 
is  satisfying.  Any  other  theory  of  life  is  narrow 
and  insufficient  and  one-sided  and  short  sighted. 
By  any  other  road  you  come  only  to  absolute 
failure  and  dire  disaster.     Consciously  or  uncon- 


A  Few  Last   Words  181 

sciously,  the  world  about  you  has  set  up  this 
standard,  and  will  render  its  judgment  thereby. 
If  you  are  able  and  willing  to  serve,  in  a  large 
and  generous  way,  the  future  is  already  your 
own.  This  does  not  mean  that  you  are  neces- 
sarily to  spend  much  of  either  time  or  money 
outside  your  chosen  calling  —  though  you  cer- 
tainly will  spend  some  of  either  or  both,  because 
every  man  must  do  this  if  he  lives  aright ;  but 
it  does  mean  that  you  are  always  to  measure 
your  daily  work  in  your  chosen  calling  by  the 
completeness  and  efficiency  and  sufficiency  with 
which  it  meets  the  wants  and  needs  of  your  fellow- 
men.  A.  T.  Stewart  was  accustomed  to  charge  his 
salesmen  to  study  the  faces  of  customers,  and 
never  to  permit  them  to  even  look  disappointed. 
Wanamaker  boasts  that  no  patron  was  ever  told 
a  second  time  that  the  firm  did  not  carry  certain 
stock;  "get  what  is  asked  for,"  is  his  rule. 
Railway  managers  publicly  invite  criticism  and 
suggestion,  hotel  men  ask  to  have  the  negligence 
or  incompetence  of  employees  promptly  reported ; 
in  every  vocation  and  calling  is  this  sense  of 
responsibility  to  others,  this  recognition  of  ser- 
vice as  the   true   measure  of   every  condition  of 


182     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

success.  If  to  study  to  please,  to  canvass  most 
anxiously  the  demands  of  the  community  in  order 
to  be  able  most  completely  to  meet  these  de- 
mands, to  strive  by  every  possible  means  to 
command  the  confidence  of  others  and  to  win 
their  respect,  to  strain  every  nerve  to  gratify 
others, — if  all  this  is  to  be  unselfish,  then  the 
most  wisely  selfish  people  of  our  day  are  the 
most  unselfish.  Of  course,  between  these  two 
stands  (nearly  always)  the  fact  and  modifying 
factor  that  you  are  also  very  mindful  of  the 
direct  return  to  yourself,  in  salary  or  other 
revenue,  in  fame  and  reputation,  in  the  delight 
which  comes  with  a  sense  of  power  and  from 
the  exercise  of  power.  But  all  this  must  not 
prevent  your  very  clear  recognition  of  the  law 
of  service  as  that  fundamental  and  all-controlling 
law  which  is  discovered  by  a  last  analysis  of  pres- 
ent social,  civil,  ethical,  and  commercial  condi- 
tions. There  is  no  largeness  of  life  without  this. 
This  must  lead  you  to  a  constant  study  of 
relations,  of  human  perspective,  and  will  make 
you  unwilling  to  accept  any  position  which  is 
isolated,  exclusive,  seclusive.  You  are  bound  to 
make   the   most  of  yourself,  to   develop   to  the 


A  Few  Last   Word*  183 

uttermost  every  faculty  and  power,  to  strike 
twelve  every  time,  not  only  for  your  own  .sake 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  common  welfare.  You 
have  no  inherent  right  to  content  yourself  with 
anything  lower  or  less  worthy ;  to  withdraw 
yourself  and  to  dwindle  away  until  you  are  a 
cipher  among  the  figures  which  go  to  make  up 
the  sum  of  life,  or  possibly  an  integer  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  decimal  point,  —  a  mere  frac- 
tion of  what  you  might  be,  and  very  possibly  a 
vulgar  fraction  at  that.  ,  It  has  come  to  pass 
that  you  simply  cannot  serve  yourself  except  by 
serving  others,  and  your  largest  gain  for  your- 
self will  come  from  the  largest  and  most  effec- 
tive service  of  others.  It  must  be  a  very 
sincere  service,  honest  throughout  in  workman- 
ship, in  quality,  in  ability,  in  whatever  you 
offer ;  for  the  world  was  never  so  keen  to 
detect  sham,  never  so  ready  to  uncover  fraud 
and  to  place  it  shamefaced  in  the  public  pillory. 
But  you  must  go  outside  of  yourself,  and  think 
and  feel  in  a  large  way,  unless  you  court  fail- 
ure and  oblivion.  Only  the  mind  which  is 
public  and  large,  which  works  in  the  daylight, 
which    rejoices    in    the    fresh   air,  can   hope   for 


184      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

worthy  and  lasting  success  in  its  schemes  and 
undertakings.  Keep  your  doors  and  windows 
open,  therefore ;  plan  for  the  life  which  is  con- 
tinually in  touch  with  your  fellow-men,  —  a  large 
life  of  intelligent  service,  which  easily  means 
large  and  generous  returns. 

In  doing  this,  always  remember  two  things. 
First,  maintain  your  individuality  at  all  costs. 
Never  permit  yourself  to  be  submerged,  never 
become  an  indefinable  atom  in  mass  life,  never 
"  go  with  the  crowd "  in  the  sense  of  blindly 
and  unintelligently  pushing  hither  and  yon  in 
the  midst  of  a  mob.  To  develop  the  individual 
and  a  sense  of  his  value  has  taken  time  and  a 
long  time  ;  it  has  been  the  battle-ground  of  the 
centuries,  it  has  cost  enormously  in  blood  and 
in  treasure,  but  it  is  worth  all  it  has  cost. 
This  is  a  heritage  not  to  be  thrown  away  or 
sold  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  I  am  especially 
anxious  that  you  should  understand  the  dangers 
of  mass  life  and  of  mass  movement.  The  mo- 
ment we  speak  of  masses  we  forget  the  individ- 
ual, we  have  turned  away  from  the  individual ; 
and  the  moment  we  turn  away  from  the 
individual,  all  that  is  most  desirable  in  life  per- 


A  Few  Last   Words  185 

ishes.  Whenever  we  speak  of  masses  of  popu- 
lation at  given  points,  whether  we  appreciate  it 
or  not,  we  are  generally  referring  to  a  society 
which  has  lost  sight  of  the  individual,  in  which 
the  individual  has  little  power  of  his  own  either 
to  shun  evil  and  misery  and  want,  or  to  attempt 
achievement  and  accomplishment ;  a  society  in 
which  the  few  live  while  the  many  only  exist, 
and  in  which,  unfortunately,  it  is  generally  true 
that  the  few  live,  and  live  as  they  live,  because 
the  many  only  exist.  The  units  of  these  masses 
can  hardly  be  called  citizens,  since  little  regard 
is  paid  to  their  individual  existence  or  rights, 
no  right  of  way  is  given  to  their  individual 
purposes  or  desires,  no  sympathy  goes  out  to 
meet  their  individual  hopes  or  fears.  The  char- 
acteristics and  the  conditions  of  society  which 
we  easily  recognize  to-day  as  making  the  indi- 
vidual man,  and  especially  as  making  him  to 
differ  from  every  other  man,  are  almost  entirely 
unknown.  You  cannot  afford  for  a  moment  to 
accept  any  scheme  of  life  that  will  place  either 
yourself  or  others  in  this  position. 

The   fact   that   the    activity  and  responsibility 
and   the   independence  of    each    person    must  be 


186     The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

determined  by  himself  is  a  fact  that  we  are  an 
coming  to  appreciate  more  and  more,  and  in 
which  we  are  all  finding  new  strength.  I  do 
not  mean  by  this  that  you  are  to  ignore  the 
past,  or  to  set  aside  precedent.  He  who  cuts 
himself  loose  from  the  past  is  lost,  unless  he  be 
a  phenomenal  character  —  and  such  are  very 
rare  indeed.  There  is  a  legitimate  power  and 
authority  in  all  the  experience  of  the  race,  —  an 
authority  because  it  has  proved  its  right  to  be, 
because  it  has  grown  out  of  prior  conditions  un- 
der which  very  much  such  a  humanity  as  that  of 
to-day  has  succeeded  or  has  failed.  No  one  may 
safely  deny  that  there  are  some  dangers  which 
come  with  this  greater  recognition  of  individual- 
ity, with  this  greater  individual  freedom.  You 
must  remember  that  freedom  unchains  all  the 
forces  of  society,  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good. 
There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  partial  freedom, 
if  we  are  to  secure  the  very  best  results.  The 
weak  side  and  the  false  side  and  the  imperfect 
side  of  human  nature  are  present  in  most  of  us. 
Freedom  sets  free  all  these  forces.  We  may 
have  restraining  penal  laws  by  which  when  a 
man  takes  undue  advantage  of  the  very  freedom 


A  Few  Last   Words  187 

we  have  given  him  we  punish  him  ;  but  that  is 
all  we  can  do.  We  cannot  restrain  him  to  the  ex- 
tent that  he  does  not  freely  exercise  his  choice. 
You  will  find  in  every  community  frivolous  minds, 
ill-balanced  minds,  minds  that  are  merely  inquisi- 
tive and  not  acquisitive  ;  persons  who  concern- 
ing any  truth  always  ask  "  What  is  it  ? "  and 
never  ask  "  What  are  my  relations  to  it  ? '  The 
freedom  of  the  individual  puts  these  frivolous 
minds  and  these  ill-balanced  minds  and  these 
merely  inquisitive  minds  upon  precisely  the  same 
footing  and  gives  them  precisely  the  same  liberty 
which  it  gives  the  strongest,  wisest,  and  best 
minds.  This  is  why  individual  and  civil  freedom, 
as  we  know  it  to-day,  is  only  absolutely  and  un- 
qualifiedly safe  in  communities  which  have  them- 
selves under  stern  and  intelligent  self-control. 
With  all  your  striving  to  maintain  your  individu- 
ality, therefore,  never  loosen  the  lines  of  that  wise 
authority  which  you  should  exercise  over  yourself. 
Second,  remember  that  this  individuality  and 
this  individual  accountability  compel  you  to  seek 
the  truth  without  regard  to  its  results  to  yourself. 
The  man  who  to-day  discovers  dynamite  and  says 
"  This  is  a  dangerous  explosive  ;   I  will  not  make 


188     The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

my  discovery  known  lest  harm  may  come  of  it* 
is  a  coward,  and  cannot  become  a  benefactor  of  his 
race.  The  time  is  passed  when  the  world  is  to 
be  fed  on  trnth  in  homeopathic  doses  because 
some  over-wise  and  over-careful  people  think  the 
world  is  not  strong  enough  to  bear  a  full  diet. 
If  you  think  you  have  discovered  any  great  truth, 
you  may  well  hesitate  to  give  it  publicity  if  you 
find  that  it  differs  from  the  generally  accepted 
views  of  mankind  ;  for  there  are  more  chances 
that  the  aggregate  mind  is  right  than  that  you 
alone  have  the  new  revelation.  But  once  thor- 
oughly convinced  of  the  rightfulness  of  your 
course  and  the  righteousness  of  your  cause,  you 
should  never  hesitate  because  of  the  effects  of 
either  discovery  or  announcement.  Seek  the 
truth,  therefore,  remembering  that  it  is  to  be 
your  own  and  must  be  your  own  when  you  find 
it  ;  for  it  is  the  truth  in  all  things  that  is  to  make 
you  free  in  all  things.  He  who  is  a  slave  is  not 
responsible  even  for  his  own  existence.  Held  in 
bondage,  he  loses  all  sense  of  responsibility,  be- 
cause another  cares  for  him.  Only  the  man  who 
feels  thoroughly  and  sincerely  and  earnestly  the 
value  and  power  of  individual  life  can  appreciate 


A  Few  Last   Words  189 

the  blessings  of  freedom  and  the  vast  responsibil- 
ity that  freedom  brings  him.  No  man  may  speak 
for  you.  You  must  always  carry  the  burden  of 
your  own  shortcomings. 

And  you  must  prepare  for  pain  such  as  you 
have  not  experienced  before,  because  the  hardest 
thing  on  earth  is  to  move  and  to  grow.  I  am 
very  sure  that  you  do  not  care  to  be  a  human 
flint  which  never  by  any  accident  is  to  strike  fire. 
It  is  very  easy  to  move  through  the  world  by 
twisting  and  turning  to  avoid  conflict  with 
others  ;  but  it  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  go 
through  the  world  bent  upon  the  conquest  of 
yourself,  and  of  the  territory  that  belongs  to  you 
by  your  own  right.  It  is  a  great  deal  easier  to 
go  with  the  crowd  ;  it  is  always  difficult  to  under- 
stand that  God  and  one  make  a  majority.  You 
can  sit  still  without  trouble  or  distress  of  mind, 
and  activity  is  very  often  painful ;  but,  like  the 
growing  pains  of  your  youth,  it  simply  indicates 
that  there  is  larger  stature  in  store  for  you. 
When  a  tree  breaks  its  bark,  you  know  that  it 
has  had  a  prosperous  year.  Do  not  do  that 
which  is  easiest  and  which  is  surest  to  bring  you 
momentary  applause  :    that  is,  agree   with  those 


190      The   College  Student  and  His  Problems 

about  you  even  though  you  doubt  the  truth  of 
their  conclusions.  With  all  humility  but  with- 
out flinching,  accept  the  responsibility  of  your 
own  thoughts,  your  own  conclusions,  your  own 
actions,  your  own  life  :  and  find  in  this  very  ac- 
ceptance a  most  magnificent  reward.  Never  for  a 
moment  fancy  that  he  is  the  brightest  and  quick- 
est who  is  always  at  variance  with  some  one,  or 
with  society,  or  with  the  settled  order  of  things  ; 
but  humbly,  and  thoughtfully,  and  painfully  if 
need  be,  go  about  your  own  work  in  your  own 
way  :  thankful  for  a  day  and  an  age  in  which  the 
individual  is  appreciated,  in  which  all  your  facul- 
ties and  powers  may  have  full  sway,  in  which  you 
can  think  and  speak  and  live  for  yourself. 

It  is  not  all  truth,  but  the  truth,  your  truth, 
the  truth  you  have  learned  by  patient  effort,  the 
truth  which  you  are  ready  to  hold  against  all 
comers,  the  truth  which  has  won  your  devotion 
for  its  own  dear  sake,— this  is  the  truth  which 
makes  life  worth  the  living  and  which  makes  you 
free.  "  And  to  be  free,"  said  John  Milton,  "  to 
be  free  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  pious,  to  be 
wise,  to  be  temperate  and  just,  to  be  frugal  and 
abstinent,  to  be  magnanimous  and  brave." 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


EXPENSES 

It  has  been  suggested  that  a  statement  of  the  ac- 
tual cost  of  attending  different  colleges  be  added  to 
this  volume.  This  statement  must  not  be  taken  as 
the  main  factor  in  determining  your  choice  of  a  col- 
lege, but  is  for  your  information  only ;  although  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  necessary  expenses  of  a 
college  course  will  sometimes  determine  the  choice. 

Nearly  every  worthy  institution,  certainly  every 
institution  of  note,  now  offers  fellowships  or  scholar- 
ships, or  both.  Fellowships  are  granted  to  graduate 
students,  and  carry  with  them  from  two  hundred 
dollars  to  six  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Scholarships 
are  granted  to  undergraduates,  and  carry  part  or  all 
of  the  tuition  —  rarely  more.  The  conditions  under 
which  these  grants  are  made  are  set  forth  in  the  cata- 
logues or  other  printed  information  of  the  different 
institutions. 

In  many  educational  institutions  there  is  a  fund 
known  as  the  "Assistance  Fund,"  or  by  an  older  and 
less   favored   title,    "  The    Indigent    Student    Fund." 

o  193 


194      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

From  this  fund  certain  advances  are  made  to  aid 
worthy  students ;  but  these  advances  are  rarely  made 
except  to  regularly  enrolled  students  who  have  proved 
their  merit.  There  is  a  tendency  nowadays  to  turn 
these  grants  into  loans,  and  thus  make  the  Assistance 
Fund  recurring,  or  self-maintaining.  Whether  this 
requirement  is  made  or  not,  no  self-respecting  student 
will  avail  himself  of  assistance  in  this  way  without 
repaying  it,  with  reasonable  interest,  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment. 

At  most  institutions  there  are  ways  in  which  stu- 
dents may  earn  more  or  less  money  while  carrying 
their  regular  college  work.  A  student  who  can  bring 
to  the  community  in  which  the  college  is  located  some 
skill  in  some  given  direction  is  quite  sure  of  employ- 
ment. Many  institutions  have  special  committees  to 
assist  students  in  securing  employment.  The  larger 
the  town  in  which  the  college  or  university  is  situ- 
ated, the  greater  the  opportunity  for  work  of  this 
kind.  Evening  work  or  part-time  work  in  such  lines 
as  stenography,  typewriting,  canvassing,  collecting, 
office  work  of  various  kinds,  drafting,  illustrating, 
newspaper  work,  and  private  tutoring;  and  work  in 
and  about  private  houses,  such  as  the  care  of  a  furnace, 
the  care  of  a  horse,  the  care  of  the  lawn  or  grounds, — 
is  quite  readily  found  for  students  who  are  expert  and 
industrious  and  faithful,  and  willing  to  do  whatever 
may  be  assigned  them.     Most  institutions,  however, 


Appendix  195 

find  it  impossible  to  promise  such  work  in  advance ; 
and  it  may  be  taken  as  a  settled  and  safe  rule  that, 
with  rare  exceptions,  no  student  should  undertake  to 
attend  college  unless  he  has  sufficient  resources  to 
carry  him  safely  through  at  least  a  half  year.  By 
that  time  he  will  be  acquainted  with  the  faculty  and 
with  the  town  and  the  general  situation,  and  officers 
and  citizens  will  come  to  know  something  about  him; 
and  it  is  not  a  difficult  task  to  secure  some  helpful 
recognition.  From  the  very  nature  of  things,  it  is 
very  much  more  difficult  to  find  opportunities  for 
young  women  to  work  in  this  way  than  for  young 
men. 

In  the  statements  which  follow,  the  tuition  fees  and 
other  fixed  charges  by  the  institution  are  for  the 
general  courses  only.  In  technical  and  professional 
courses  the  fees  are  generally  somewhat  higher,  and 
laboratory  expenses  are  somewhat  greater. 

The  laboratory  fees  are  estimated,  because  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  these  with  exactness  until  the 
course  is  chosen.  A  course  which  carries  science  in  a 
rather  left-handed  manner,  and  in  which  history,  phi- 
losophy, economics,  the  literatures,  and  the  classics 
are  given  preference,  will  call  for  comparatively  slight 
expenditure  for  laboratory  work.  Scientific  courses 
call  for  much  more. 

The  statement  which  follows  cannot  be  treated  as  a 
comparative  statement,  as  far  as  living  expenses  are 


196      The  College  Student  and  His  Problems 

concerned,  since  some  of  the  estimates  are  for  forty 
weeks  in  the  academic  year  and  some  are  for  thirty- 
six  weeks.  Moreover,  a  minor  expenditure  in  a  small 
town  will  often  bring  greater  comfort  than  the  greater 
expenditure  in  a  city.  Each  statement,  therefore, 
must  stand  by  itself,  and  the  conditions  under  which 
life  at  the  institution  goes  forward  must  be  carefully 
considered. 


Institutions 

Fees1 

Room 
Eent 

Board 

Board 
and  Eoom 

Totals 

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

Amherst    .    .     . 

125 

42-78* 

108-216 

•         • 

275-419 

Beloit    .... 

70 

20-75* 

72-144 

•        • 

162-289 

Brown  .... 

165 

25-60-125 2 

100-150-280 

•        • 

290-375-570 

California    State 

No 

University .     . 

Tuition 

• 

*         • 

•        • 

"  Need  not  ex- 
ceed 300." 

Colorado      State 

University .    . 

25 

•        • 

•         • 

125-200-300 

150-225-325 

Columbia     Uni- 

•         • 

•         • 

. 

387-547-829  up.* 

Cornell  (Iowa)    . 

27-45 

•        • 

• 

78-165 

105-210 

Cornell  (N.Y.)   . 

100 

•        . 

•         • 

150-400 

250-500 

Dartmouth     .     . 

112-120 

15-1002 

111-185 

•         • 

238-405 

Grinnell  (Iowa)  . 

73 

30-60* 

100-120 

•        • 

203-253 

Harvard     .    .    . 

175 

51-155-295* 

117-160-390 

•        • 

343-490-860  up. 

Illinois  State  Uni- 

versity   .     .    . 

24* 

33-65* 

90-126 

144-216 

147-215-258-366 

Johns  Hopkins  . 

185 

•         • 

•         • 

216-360 

401-545 

Leland  Stanford 

University .    . 

•        • 

•         • 

•         • 

•         • 

"Exclusive    of 
clothing    and 
railway  fares 
225-300." 

Michigan     State 

University .     . 

50-55 6 

•         « 

•         • 

120-160-200 

"Average,370." 

Minnesota  State 

University .     . 

•     • 

•     • 

•         • 

• 

268-305-315 « 

Appendix 


197 


Room 

Board 

Institutions 

Fees 

BOABD 

Total 

Rent 

and  Room 

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

$ 

Nebraska     State 

University .     . 

•        • 

.    . 

. 

. 

"Average,  250." 

N.  Carolina  State 

University .     . 

85 

.    , 

.      . 

180-415 

265-500 

Ohio  State  Uni- 

versity  .    .     . 

30-35-70 

5-37-75 2 

70-110-150 

.         . 

105-182-295 

Ohio  Wesieyan  . 

57 

20-35-50  * 

70-90-140 

a          , 

147-182-247 

Princeton  .     .    . 

165 

40-90-230 2 

108-180-252 

.         . 

313-435-647 

Sewanee    .     .    . 

125 

,          . 

. 

150-200 

275-325 

Texas  State  Uni- 

versity  .    .     . 

25 

.         a 

.    . 

108-180 

150-225 

Union      Univer- 

sity   .... 

115 

18-36 

120-160 

•     • 

253-311.  "Aver- 
age, 280." 

University  of 

Chicago  .     .    . 

125 

60-105-125* 

90-126-225 

. 

275-356-475 

University  of 

Pennsylvania  . 

175-225 

•         • 

.     . 

185-250 

360-475 

Washington  Uni- 

versity   .    .     . 

150 

•         • 

.     • 

200-300 

350450 

(St.  Louis). 

Western  Reserve 

110 

.         . 

. 

120-200 

230-810 

Williams    .     .     . 

130 

16-130 2 

126-216 

. 

272-476 

Wisconsin  State 

University .     . 

50-65 

. 

200-400 

250-465 

Yale 

175 

45-145-215* 

125-175-250 

•         ■ 

350-495-640 

1  Including  tuition  fees,  laboratory  fees  (estimated),  and  other 
fixed  institutional  charges. 

2  Unfurnished  room,  including  fuel  and  lights. 

8  Estimates  do  not  include  washing,  laundry,  incidentals,  text- 
books, travelling  or  vacation  expenses ;  except  where  quoted  direct 
from  catalogues. 

4  Furnished  rooms ;  two  students  in  a  room. 

6  Special  reports  of  all  expenses,  by  "  typical  students." 

*  For  non-resident,  $10  more. 

1  Laboratory  fees  not  included. 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 

University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(415)642-6233 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


OCT  1  8  1989 


Returned  by 


v 


)  8  1930 


Santa  Cruz  Jitney 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


